Ain't No Sunshine: A Survey

It's (diagnosed by me) official: I am suffering from a severe case of SAD.  When the sunshine hides, I find myself in a hard-to-shake funk.  When Lady Sun comes back, the funk lifts - only to be hidden behind gray, rainy clouds a day or two later.

Today is one of those yucky, funky days.  I'm sitting by one of the back windows, wishing for that beautiful golden glow.  Instead, the only gold is the dead grass that is my lawn.  It's in the 30s.  And wet.  And gray.  I'd like to embrace Annie's enthusiasm, but I know that tomorrow is also going to be gray.  And the day after that.  And the day after that.  It's pretty much going to be a gray week.

So, in honor of a gray day, I'm going to play along with Jennifer and Leigh's survey.

Outside my widow ...
It's a cold, wet, rainy day.  I'm sitting in Paul's chair by the back windows, looking onto a yard full of dead grass, littered with outside toys that are begging for sunshine so the boys will come out to play.  Our vegetable garden looks very, very dead ... but we've already planned our Spring plantings.  The pumpkin plants from school are slowly wilting away in the terracotta pots the boys each decorated a few weeks ago.  A few of our patio chairs are uncovered.  I should have recovered them when I stepped out to take the trash.  But, it was cold.  And wet.  So, instead, I went inside and had some more coffee.

I am missing ...
The carefree days of Summer.  Running around in the green grass.  Sipping wine on the patio after Paul gets home from work.  Eating outside.  Swinging, sliding and pretending the playscape is a pirate ship and that we can see Canada and Africa and Mexico just by looking through the telescope.

I am thankful ...
For having a wonderful family to distract me.  For having a home that's a little too big that begs to be cleaned.  For having too much when so many have too little.  For my morning coffee.  For Dulce de Leche coffee creamer.  For "Lucky's Girlfriend" - my insulated Starbucks tumbler from which I sip my coffee every morning.  For "Dinosaur Train" in the background.

From the kitchen ...
A quiet whisper to unload the dishwasher and sweep the floor.  Later today, though, I think the boys and I will bake something.  I have two bananas begging to become bread.

I am wearing ...
(Embarrassed to admit!)  A brown t-shirt,  a beige sweater (I just came in from dragging the trash to the curb), blue jammie pants with coffee cups and hearts on them.  I just slipped off my black sparkly Fit Flops, which I wore to the curb.  Oh, and my sports watch.  I heard it dates me to wear a watch, but I feel compelled to keep one on.

I am creating ...
I'm still working on a scarf for Paul.  It's Noro Kureyon No. 149 in a 2x2 rib.  Nothing overly exciting, but it is nice and masculine.  I'm also working on a ruffled bloomer to go under a dress I sewed the other day for a friend from high school.  And, I'm supposed to be starting OrgJunkie's 28-day challenge today, tackling my sewing/craft room.  I was inspired by Jen's before-and-afters over at Naughty Secretary Club.  While my befores aren't quite as daunting as hers, I do hope my afters will be as fabulous!

I am going ...
Nowhere today.  I hit HEB yesterday and picked up groceries to last a few days.  I have no plans to leave the house today.  I may not even change out of my jammie pants.   (The boys have already decided they're staying jammied all day today.)

Around the house ...
There are areas to be tidied up, and I need to tackle the kitchen countertops again.  They've disappeared under stacks of papers, mail, school folders and magazines.  Again.  Mitchell's new bedroom furniture is supposed to be delivered tomorrow, so I'll be starting the tasks of moving the baby furniture out of Noah's room, purging the boys' clothes, reloading the dressers, etc.  It's exciting and sad all at once that Noah is moving out of his crib and into a big boy bed.  I found his bedding the other day at Home Goods and need to zip back over and pick it up.  (I got distracted by a phone call!) That store is awesome!  The quilt is just $29.99!  We're not sure what we'll do with the crib.  The changing table is moving into my craft room.  It will become my cutting table, I think.

One of my favorite things ...
Spending time with my boys.  Noah randomly runs up to me and gives me a hug and kiss.  Mitchell randomly tells me he loves me.   (One of my not-so-favorite things right now: Attempting to potty train Noah.  He has no desire!  He was really eager a few months ago and has now decided that wearing a diaper isn't so bad.  HELP!!!)

A few plans for the rest of the week ...
Cleaning house.  Doctor appt. on Wednesday (just a regular check-up).  MOPS on Friday.  My mom and Larry are coming to visit Friday afternoon.  Birthday party for one of Mitchell's friends on Saturday.

New Toys: Vintage Flower Looms

They say that everything old is new again, and flower looming is no exception. This craft reached its heyday in the '60s and '70s, and thanks to craftinista Cathy of California, it's back in a big way! Cathy even taught Martha Stewart how to create flowers the other day!

Here's my flower loom kit plus two projects I played with yesterday. I used gift-wrap ribbon (aka, curly ribbon). I can tell you, it's a tedious task to loom a flower. With practice, though, I'm sure it will be lots of fun!

Here's a detail of the two flowers I loomed yesterday with gift-wrap ribbon. The purple one on the left was done on the larger pegs on the large square loom. I wrapped the ribbon 3-5 times around each peg then knotted it off in the middle. Once I removed it from the loom, I split the ribbons down the middle and then cut the loops to make a really pretty chrysanthemum.

The flower on the right was done on the double circular loom. I used lime green for the outside petals and turquoise for the inside. I backstitched around the center, like the instruction manual suggested.

I left long tails of ribbon on both of these so I can use them on gift packages. Bags of goodies have never looked so good!

(BTW: If you'd like a vintage flower loom set of your own, you can purchase it from Cathy's etsy shop.)

Ale Has Landed

Meet Ale, our new alien.

This afternoon, Mitchell asked me to make him an alien. I searched online for some alien graphics and then let Mitchell decide which he wanted. Then we hit my fabric stash, where I had this sort-of planet-y fabric. Mitchell picked out buttons for his eyes while I cut the fabric.



Mitchell hasn't put him down yet! Not bad for a few minutes and scraps of fabric! He's pretty wonky, but I couldn't imagine him crisp and perfect!!!

This was the alien clip art that was my inspiration for Ale.

BTW: Mitchell named him Ale. I think because it sounds like the first syllable of alien.

Bohemian Bag: Finished!

After much cursing, several broken needles and probably too much stress, I finished my Bohemian Bag!

Drum roll please ...

I made Lila Tueller's Bohemian bag pattern with her Soiree fabric - my favorite!

I love how it came out, except next time I will start making my panels with the boring fabrics so the super cute ones don't end up on the sides. (I didn't even think about this when I was laying out the fabrics. As a result, my cute green and yellow floral fabrics are on the sides instead of the front.) I'll also make the pockets shorter on the inside - they were a little too close to the top so I kinda stitched them by accident when attaching the handles.

This was my first attempt to quilt and to use clear thread. I think my quilting came out pretty good, and the clear thread was a pain the you-know-what.

But, I was so proud when people commented on my bag yesterday, and I'd say "Thanks. I made it." (There were several who said it looked like a Vera Bradley! Yeah!!!)

And, on a somewhat related note: I commented on Lila Tueller's blog that I was frustrated with sewing the bag, and she so kindly responded with some tips and advice. How cool is that?! (Okay, I don't know that many people would think that's cool, but I did!)

Just Hatched!

Meet Chickie - the new member of my creative family!

I was getting a little frustrated with my Bohemian Bag, so I decided to take a little break. Those great gals at Sew, Mama, Sew! offered this mental vacation just at the right time. Yesterday evening, I started sewing up Chickie. I finished her up today and added a few touches of my own (notice her pink bows with the pearl centers?). I wanted to add some eyelashes, but I didn't have any black embroidery thread.

This is a great way to use up some scraps. For the comb and feet, I used some scraps from Lila Tueller's Soiree. Her body and wings are some fabrics I picked up to make the hostess aprons for Mitchell's school, and her beak is a scrap from Sandy Gervias's Celebrate Spring.

Mitchell named her Chickie, and we're debating whether she's a girl or a boy. I say Girl. I mean, hello - look at her! Mitchell keeps insisting that it's a boy.

Anyhoo, I think I'll use her as a pin cushion on my sewing table. She's so cheery and sort of matches my Chic Chick Boutique logo.

If you want to make your own spring chick, click here for the oh-so-easy instructions. Thanks Sew, Mama, Sew!

Found!

What do these things all have in common?

I found them all in one of my chairs in the living room. My iPhone fell into the chair and I had to fish it out. As I was digging (site unseen), I kept feeling strange stuff. So, I shook the chair and found some interesting stuff:

• Number 1 and 9 puzzle pieces
• Hot Wheels truck and motorcycle
• Plastic dinosaur
• 3 Keep This Coupons
• a Stylus to an unknown device (maybe it belongs to Paul's dad?)
• a blue tape measure

We have another chair just like this one on the other side of the room. I wonder what treasures it hides?