Wednesday, March 31, 2010

WLW

So, the lesson for this week is hydration! I'm still holding onto a couple of pounds of water weight. This past weekend was the concert in Portland and since it's an all day event I did not hydrate very well at all. We got to the Rose Garden at 8 am to get in line because it was just pay at the door and we also wanted to get seats on the floor. The line was a little bit crazy. And the line for the restroom was equally crazy, like an hour wait to get in! We walked quite a bit a few blocks down the street and across the freeway to use the facilities and also for lunch and coffee. So, I did get some exercise and that was good.

My goal for this week is to get rehydrated. I think I will see those pounds go away with that. Went to spin last night and will tonight. Tomorrow's work is schedule is pretty much cuckoo so I don't think I'll make it to class so I'm planning to go for the eliptical at least.

So, how exciting is it that we have new participants??? I think it's super cool that we have more people joining in! Pop over to Jen's blog and check everyone out and leave an encouraging comment :)

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Weight Loss Wednesday

Not as bad as I thought this week but I did gain. So, Jen lost 1/2 lb and I found it! :) It's okay though because I know that I'm holding onto some water this week. My goal for this week since the doctor I work for is out of the office was to go to spin class an extra day on Monday. When we have patients I rarely make it out in time to get to the Monday class. I actually got caught up talking to someone so didn't make it this week either! But I did go to the gym anyways and do the eliptical. For some reason I feel like that is harder sometimes than spin??? Am I crazy? Okay, but don't answer that really....I did spin last night and will be tonight and tomorrow as well.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Farewell to Almonds

Awwww, so sad about this: I have to give up almonds. For real. I have really random allergies and I am developing a big one to almonds. It used to be that sometimes I could get away with it and have a handful every once in awhile and be okay. Nope, not anymore. Last night I had a reaction, and no benedryl to be found in the house!!!! I was getting itchier and itchier and chest getting a little tight. Luckily Safeway is not too far away and not closed yet. It was like 10pm or so. I was wheezing walking down the aisle to get the benedryl. Thank God the benedryl stopped the reaction in time. I was starting to getting a teensy bit panicky that I would have to go to the hospital. And feel stupid because I know I am allergic and yet ate them anyways just because I love them so. Moral of the story: don't do something you know is bad for you just because it might taste delicious.
Other than that, not much new here. Yesterday Jan and I and her daughter trolled around town. At first her daughter couldn't quite decide what theme to pick for her birthday party coming up - so I piped up "How about Alice in Wonderland??" Whoops! Hee, heee. Now Jan is sort of freaking out about how to decorate. Fortunately she is really good at that kind of thing so I know she'll do great! We went to the Goodwill "As Is" store and found some tea cups, saucers and an old tea pot, a silver tray - all for $2. Did I mention that the "As Is" store is grody? Seriously it is so gross in there and stinky - but there are gems to be found if you can hold your breath for a little bit. There's weirdos in there too. There was a guy who kept commenting on how nice my green shirt was and then wanted to discuss exactly what shade of green I thought it was......I found a new table to look at! But the tea cups were worth it! Her inlaws happen to have a croquet set - sorry Jen I know you were looking for one last week!!!! I'm going to investigate making some large, possibly felt, toadstools for her. There were also a ton of ideas on One Pretty Thing.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Day off from work

I took today off of work and this is what has happened so far:
So this past week or so I received two swaps from the Bead Trade Off from Swap-bot. Here they are side by side, on the left I'm calling #1 and on the right is #2.

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And here's the contents of #1:
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And here's the contents of #2:
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So, since I was all into my bead stash and all I figured I'd work on these stitch markers! I've been trying to make some that don't have any sort of catchy pieces to get caught on yarn. I'm not sure if I've achieved this yet, but I'm close for sure. Check it out:
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What do you think? Here's a shot in the sun so you can see the sparkliness of them :)
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Last but not least, I started making an overnight bag last weekend and finished it up today. I loooove the way it turned out. I do have another overnight bag but was sort of in the mood for something more colorful, what else is new? So here it is:
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I put a bag of stuffing in it so I could get an idea of the shape and how much it will hold:
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The lining is the same fabric as the straps. I'm thinking it will hold a lot, which will be convenient. Soooo, why do I need a new overnight bag you ask? For the Rock and Worship Road Show next weekend in Portland!!!!!!! So excited. Went last year and it was a blast. It's $10 but first come first serve. Last year we got there at 7 AM (!) and waited allll day until the doors opened at like 4:30. But, we got first row seats! It was awesome! The line-up this year is going to be really cool -I'm totally looking forward to the David Crowder Band!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

WLW


I have good news to report today! I am down 2lbs!!!! Ya-hooooo :) The other good news is that there's 1 inch off of my waist and hips. My clothes are getting looser and looser. I'm kind of up in the air about buying new clothes now. I don't really want to spend the money I think. But, if they get much looser I will either have to buy new clothes or alter what I've got. It's just that I have a lot to lose so I don't want to be constantly buying new clothes and sizes and stuff.
So, last week I made it to spin class on Tuesday and Wednesday. I did sign up for Thursday but didn't get out of work until 6:30 and the class starts at 6! I did the elyptical on Saturday for 1/2 hour instead. It was nice because there was nooooo one at the gym on Saturday so I had my pick of machines. And I made sure to drink water at home this weekend.
I'm hoping the rest of the ladies have done well this week as well! You can pop over to Jenn's blog to see who's participating, or if you want to join in you're welcome to!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Book Stalking

I'm cracking myself up right now. Does anyone else book-stalk??? You know, everytime you go to the store you check out this one particular book. And, thumb through the pages and think "maybe someday I'll buy this" but never do. Even if it's on sale. I'll confess I've been doing this. To two books in particular - Material Obsession and Artful Paper Dolls. It was sort of funny because a couple weeks ago I went into Joanns and the books are back by the yarn and the patterns, which I was incidentally looking at also. But since I was already right there, why not look through the books?? And Material Obsession was gone! What? Someone else bought my book? Huh. Maybe it's over in the quilting section since it is about quilts. Not there either! BAH! Not that I would have bought it then anyways, but still. There was just something unsettling about it not being there.

The other night I was in there and there were 2 on the shelf! Sweet relief.....

Sunday, March 14, 2010

weekend stuff

100_1912[1]I have been wanting one of these for-ever! I originally saw it in a magazine at my Mom's house and don't remember which one because she subscribes to a bazillion. Probably one of the quilting ones. Anyways, I found a broken embroidery hoop at the thrift for like .10 cents or something and picked it up with the intention of making one of these. It's in the top edge sewn in between the lining and outer bag to hold it open. I think you could probably just use boning for the same effect. I made the pincushion with an extra layer inside so that I could divide the stuffing. On one side is beans for weight and the upper side is regular stuffing. The little straps turned out really cute, I used some embroidered ribbon that I ♥love♥ and then sewed it down to some wide bias tape. Et voila!
100_1909[1] So, I've been wanting to try out some Mod Podge. I had no ideas and then I went to Home Depot and found a piece of wood in the scrap section for .51 cents! Out of that one piece of wood I had the super helpful guy cut it into 5 sections that are about 6x9 or so. Then, painted the piece of wood green. After it was nice and dry I covered it with Mod Podge and layered paper cut with my Cricut, the shamrocks I freehanded though. After that was dry then added the other embellishments. At that point I was sort of stuck because I couldn't decide between the buttons and the flowers. Husband came in and was like "why don't you just go all out and do both?" uh, huh. Yep, that's what I needed. So, it's in the kitchen above the stove. I definitely will try the Mod Podge thing again, but I need to fine tune for sure. There are some air bubbles and I think I'd rather the gloss finish than the matte that I used.
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So, I had a Godstop this weekend. Well Friday night really. So, I have had a little bit of a drought when it comes to hearing from God, like feeling close to Him and stuff. And, frankly right now in my life I feel very alone. I won't elaborate there, but I do feel that way. So, I ran into a lady that I know from church named Shannon on Wednesday. Pretty randomly too - she came into the office I work at looking for a different office. And she invited me to a workshop and game night at church on Friday night from 6-midnight. And I thought, hmmm. Maybe, maybe not. See I have a little issue with "fellowshipping". I'm not very good at small talk anyways and especially if I feel like it's fake, or nothing in common, or too personal, or I'm just weird anyways so there you have it. It's such a Christian buzzword and it drives me crazy. So I avoid it. But, Friday night came around and I had no plans, nothing to do. Talked to hubby and he was like, maybe just check it out, there's no rule that says you have to stay if you don't want to. I went and was, of course, late walking in. It was on a potentially simple topic - "Quiet time with God" aka "Devotional time". Aha! Something I've been meaning to do but haven't because I'm not a morning person, I don't have time, I don't feel like it, I don't know where to start, yadda, yadda, yadda. You know what I mean, there are a million and one excuses not to. I have to say it was very encouraging. There were 5 ladies doing the teaching, and they all shared the different ways that they have their quiet time. All of them were indeed in the morning, except one. Karen shared that she is not a morning person and so has her time at night. Good one! I had even made it one of my resolutions, and still wasn't doing it. But, I was hung up on having to do it in the morning. When I got home I picked a Gospel, prayed, read a little bit and journaled. It was good. The moral of the story I believe is that any time we make time for God is a good time. Not just in the morning :)

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Weight Loss Wednesday

Here's my equation for the week:
cheetos + movie popcorn + only 1 spin class last week + not enough hydration = 1lb weight gain!!!!!

I'm definitely going to spin 3 times this week and I have been drinking TONS of water. Salt is bad. It is not my friend.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

June-sy collar

June got a new collar this weekend. I had seen the idea here for a recycled dog collar and wanted to try it. But, then I also still really like all of her current collars. As you can imagine, I do switch them out seasonally. So, I looked at the snap things at Joanns, but let's face it, I'm cheap. I didn't want to spend like $4 on the snap thing. I was in the Dollar Store anyways getting roses for the Alice in Wonderland wreath I was making and went down the pet aisle and saw this super ugly collar and thought - aha! I'll use that! So, I basically did the same thing as the recycled collar only I didn't have any interfacing so I used a thicker fabric strip in the middle of the fabric I used which is my favorite fabric right now. And so, here is Miss June modeling her new collar. She was so excited when I measured her neck and then also when I switched out the collars! Sam was jealous that he didn't have a spiffy new collar, but really he can't have one because he is bad. He has to have a super strong buckle type collar because he wiggles out of others or bites through them and my worst fear is that I will somehow lose him. I was thinking that I might make him cute neckchief though :)After all the attention, June was exhausted and had to take an afternoon nap!

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Alice wreath and Finland

Okay, so I'm sort of cringing a little to share this one - although I'm not sure why because by now it's pretty obvious I'm a dork! So, on One Pretty Thing the other day I came across this wreath for Alice in Wonderland, by Lark and Lola, and thought how cute! Since Jan, Robbie and I were going to see the movie this weekend I figured it'd be perfect to make one of my own! so I did, and here it is. I used a heart shaped base wreath, and my banners came out sort of huge. I was sort of in that mood where I just wanted to get it DONE so I didn't fuss with it. I really liked the font that Lark and Lola used way better but I made do with my trusty Cricut and Storybook cartridge. I do really like the way it turned out :) BTW I loved the movie, the world that Tim Burton created is magnificent.
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And so yesterday I sent out 5 packages for different swaps and while I was at the post office I picked up a package from Finland. Can I please tell you how fun it is to get a package from another country!!!!! Seriously, I loooove getting packages anyways, and the novelty factor of an international one is off the charts! And I opened it in the car, just couldn't even wait to get home! Love, love, love. For a number of reasons. First her handwriting was so cute, tiny and unmistakenly foreign. Inside she had included a head scarf called a "calorimetry" which I had never heard of, but seriously it is beautiful, 3 skeins of wool yarn, her favorite knitting pattern, and a story of how she had learned how to knit, and her Ravelry moniker. I guess I loved it so much because it's so nice to have a crafty kindred spirit to connect with. I know that gets said a lot, but really I can't even express how great that is. I'm not knocking my friends that are here but it's nice to talk (sort of) to someone who knows exactly what I'm talking about. Just cool.
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Friday, March 5, 2010

whole lotta vintage FQ's!

100_1882[1]First up is this ruffled felt wreath that I made. I saw the idea on One Pretty Thing, it was originally done in white but I thought it might be fun in green for St. Patty's day! I was thinking I would embellish it somehow, and had been wanting to add a toadstool or something but it just didn't look right, so decided to leave it plain. It's on the front door.

100_1886[1]Next is what I came up with for the toadstool! This is titled "Bunny painting" and I love it! So, basically I took a yellow bunny pick from Michaels and flocked it red. I don't know why I wanted a red bunny. Then, the toadstool is actually just a wooden drawer pull upside down and painted. Embellished with vintage buttons, covered a few buttons with a little bit of vintage hankie and voila!
100_1891[1]I received this swap package today, from Jennifer's fat quarter vintage sheet swap. I am LOVING the daisy pattern in the front.
100_1890[1]And this is the square that I am mailing out for the Vintage Sheet Quilting Bee. The square for this month was picked by Rachel, and I think it is a string quilt. I had just finished this square when the above swap package arrived! I realized as I was cutting strips that I have soooo much yellow and lime-y green! hmmmm.
100_1892[1]Okay, this will be quick, just two separate swaps that I'm sending out today. These are both on Swap-bot. This first one is a Bead Trade Off. We were to fill a 2x3 inch baggie full of beads from our stash and send it off. No plastic or wood beads. Hopefully I will get some fun and pretty beads in return!
100_1893[1] This is another vintage sheet FQ swap, 2 FQ in each bundle going to two different ladies. I received this one last night:100_1888[1]