Sunday, May 30, 2010

Laying it out

This is what I came home to on Thursday after the looooongest week of the world:
Happy unbirthday swap
I participated in the "Happy Un-birthday" swap on Swap-bot, which we listed 10 things that we would like to receive and our partner sent us 3 things from the list. My partner, as you can clearly see, went totally overboard!!!! I asked for gnome fabric because so far in the town I live I cannot find even one scrap anywhere! I have no idea what I'm going to do yet, but I love this idea here with putting the gnome in the doorway of a wonky house. I lovety love it! I didn't think to get a picture of what I sent out, I was too much in a hurry to get to the post office!
So, I mentioned that I was getting ready to start another quilt, and I have done just that. I started on Thursday after spin class, cutting out rectangles. This is what I have so far:
New quilt
I don't completely love it yet. In the center area I am trying not to be too fussy about how to arrange the colors, but frankly it's kind of freaking me out. I had another couple of prints in there with like a general white backround, but then I started counting how many of each color and putting them in an order. But, I want the main colors to be red and turquoise so I took out those squares and added more red and turquoise. My general ispiration is from the Moda Bake Shop cherry and blossom table topper. Thing is that I'm trying to use what I have in my stash, so I'm subbing strawberries for cherries. And, the original pattern was just a table topper so I'm obviously making mine a lot bigger. I'm on the fence about whether I want to add the appliqued flowers to all the middle squares. I kind of feel like it will become overwhelming, yes? Maybe I'll just randomly add some??? I don't even know yet. I have a super long weekend, the doctors I work for generously gave us Tuesday off as well, which was a surprise - found that out on Thursday. I'm happy to have another day to sleep in :)

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

WLW

Okay, fine. I have a confession. I do something. How do I explain it? Like if something is popular, for some reason I don't want anything to do with it. Like when Harry Potter first came out, I was like "whatever." And, then the first movie just happened to be playing at a friends house while I was over and I saw it and I was like, "dude." Now it's one of my favorite book series, ever. I did the same thing with Twilight. Seriously. I don't know why I do this really, but I do and it drives me a little crazy about myself. Not sure why I even felt like sharing that, but there, it's out there.

So, it looks as if Weight Loss Wednesday on Jen's blog maybe be coming to a halt. Seems that there have only been a few peeps participating and what not. I have to admit that at first I was like, well then I won't keep up with it. But, then I realized that I would not be accountable to anyone but myself and let's face it - I let myself get away with a ton of stuff! I wouldn't be overweight if I didn't. So I'm thinking I'll keep posting at least once a week (about weight loss) even if it isn't particularly on a Wednesday. This week I did not lose anything, um, except the water weight that I had gained from last week. Last week I went to spin 3 days, this week I went tonight and am signed up for tomorrow. Tomorrow, I must admit, is a little iffy just because we have a 7am clinic start time and frankly, but the end of the day I'm dragging - esp since I am sooo not a morning person!

Does anyone have any fabulous plans for this long weekend???

Saturday, May 22, 2010

gearing up

I'm preeeety sure that I'm about to start my next quilt, which is going to be a gift. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do, but as with other things I've been checking my favorite blogs for inspiration. And, here it is: like my last quilt I am turning to the Moda Bake Shop. I am going to again also use my own stash of fabrics because the colors I want to use. I started cutting white rectangles the other night and am getting pretty excited to really start!
The quilted pillowcase that I made last weekend was sort of a trial run of the colors/prints that I want to use. I wanted to see what they'd look like all together. I'm also going to add some purple and maybe yellow?

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Wednesday already?

Boy, this week went by fast! Not much to report in the way of weight loss. I gained some water weight this week, but I know by the end of the week it will be gone so I'm not worried. I went to spin class last night and again tonight. I didn't make it at all last week so this week it's kicking my butt, which is a good thing :) I had a total pasta-fest last night, I don't know what came over me! And, while I'm confessing here I might as well admit that I also had one of those new Milky Ways that is just caramel and chocolate AND a full-calorie cherry coke. I think these little cravings are exactly what got me in this mess to begin with! I know that sometimes you have to let a little indulgence so I'm just not going to make it a habit.

So, how is everyone else doing??? You can see others' progress and join in if you'd like at Jennifer's blog Rosey Little Things.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

secret dorkiness

Oh, all right so it's no secret that I'm pretty much a dork. I don't mind so much, though, because frankly if you can't laugh at yourself then what fun is life, right? So, I saw this idea on my new favorite blog Lovely Little Handmades. But, for the life of me I couldn't imagine a forest creature in my head to draw to do an embroidered square. What kept popping into my head was my sweet June Bug. So, I looked at a picture of her for the basic outline and then sort of cartooned her face - don't know how else to put it. And voila - this pillowcase was born.
Junie pillow
Ummm, a word about matching blues/turquoises - maybe get in some real light not like dim or fluorescent. I'm just saying. When I put all my blues together I thought a couple of these were more turquoise-y but I really do love all the fabrics so I decided to be okay with it. I had to add the lady bug fabric because we've always called June "junebug". Anyways, it totally doesn't match the decor in my house but I just couldn't help myself.
BTW can I please tell you how durn cute my pups have been lately??? So cute. Sam has been super affectionate - like just wants me to pet his head a ton and wants to snuggle. Which - ahem - for a 100+ pound dog that can be a little bit much. June has been all about being outside. Yesterday I came home and they were in the back yard and it had just started to rain and she was sitting smack dab in the middle of the grass, and every time I open the door she runs outside. Usually she is the couch dog. We've always said that if there is any small piece of soft June will find it and lay on it.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

5/15

First off I sent out my squares for May for the Vintage Sheet Quilting Bee to Amanda of Little Cumulus. These were super easy breezy so I ended up doing two. Amanda put up a tutorial on her blog to help us out, and I'm glad she did! Even though these were easy it's nice to be show how to get started. She wanted bright colors and something to make the plus sign "pop". While looking through my stash I've realized that I don't have very many solid bright colors, so this was what I came up with. I hope she likes them!
May Bee block
Umm, okay this one was my attempt at wonkiness. I've seen wonky stuff everywhere but I don't know if it's in me to be wonky?
May Bee blockAnd, now a little inspiration:

Inspiration
I receive a catalog called Victorian Trading Company, which I LOVE. Of course, I have not ever ordered anything from said catalog, I just mainly drool all over it! And look for things I might be able to reproduce. Ahhhh, I turned the page the day I rec'd this one and lo and behold say this "bird's nest jewelry" and thought - I can do that! For a lot less than $99.95 plus s&h too! Here's my version:
100_2051[1]
I added the little charm plate thing - it was the only thing I could find at Michaels that was a little bird. It's kind of hard to make out the bird on there, but it's like a swallow. I may or may not add to it. I've worn it a couple of times already, I like it :)
birds nest necklace
So, here's a funny story: Yesterday my friend Brooke and I drove over to see her sister who just had surgery. While we were driving Brooke said there was going to be a Rummage sale at Roosevelt School. And I was like, oh where's that? She started cracking up and was like, you know the school a block away from your house! Heee, heee - whoops! In my defense I am not terribly attached to this house as I do not consider it my "real" house and I don't have kids so I don't know which schools are which. I just know that I need to drive reeeeeeallly slow by it :) That's the most important part, right??? lol anyways, all that to say that this is what I picked up today at the Roosevelt Rummage Sale:
light up Christmas tree
I must confess that I've seen a ton of them and have wanted one for-ever! It's actually not that big, which is pretty perfect to add to my village at Christmas time. Here it is all lit up. Best part? It was only .50 cents! And I walked there so technically got some exercise....
Oh, yeah? Did I mention that I won a $30 gift certificate to the scrapbook store at the crop last weekend? Well, I totally did so guess what I'm going to do now? spend it :)

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

wlw

so I have good news to report! 3lbs down from last week and that makes 40lbs total so far!!!!! Ca-razy. So, since last week I've lost 1/2 inch from my waist and 1 inch from my hips and butt. Today I got to wear a pair of capris that I couldn't get into at all last year, so I'm v. happy with that!

Last night was our "literary circle" meeting. It was cool - I'm having so much fun hearing everyone else's take on what we've read. It's funny because all of us have either read ahead a bunch or finished the first book so we were joking that next time we'd be reading a book every other week instead of 5 chapters!

Even though it's only Wednesday I'm looking forward to the weekend and getting some sewing done! I have started on a little embroidery project that I am going to make into a pillow that I think will be cute so I hope to finish that. Also, I've had a request for a kindle cover and I'm super flattered that anyone would want me to make something for them!

How is your week going???

Thursday, May 6, 2010

what lack of sleep does to a person

I'm going to warn you now that I'm super tired so this is going to be super random. I'm pretty sure that I only got like 3 or 4 hours of sleep last night and for me that's not enough at all. I kept waking up and finally at like 3:30 or so just gave up and got up. I read a little bit then went out to the craft house to work on this t shirt I've been working on. If it's decent I'll post pics later. So, I sewed a little and the dogs were driving me crazy and my thread kept splitting while I was hand stitching some of those little knit rosette things so I gave up and went back to the main house to give it another go at sleeping. Sam was having none of that and kept barking at stuff. So, in his kennel he went. At 6 I finally dozed and the alarm went off at 6:39.

This weekend I am scrapbooking on Saturday. This year the scrapbook store did not do a National Scrapbook Day (NSD) thing so my friend Jennifer who is a Creative Memories consultant set something up. I may end up working on the invites to the baby shower coming up. Pretty sure that's what I'll be working on but you know how sometimes you start something and then realize that you don't want to do that? So, I'll bring other stuff too.

I'm also pondering what type of quilt I want to work on next. I am sort of thinking about a sunshine and shadows quilt with yellow and purple? Or you know how ppl do like a log cabin and half is dark and the other half light? I'm also trying to decide (even though it's super early) what kind of squares to pick when it's my turn to pick the square for the Vintage Sheet Quilting Bee I'm participating in.

Also, can I please tell you that I saw a cookie recipe somewhere on some blog out there that was for giant cookies with chocolate chips and m&m's and the whole batch just makes 6 cookies. I was thinking that might be fun to do as party favors for the baby shower, but guess what? Genius over here didn't bookmark the site! I'm usually perty good at doing that but I think I thought for sure I'd remember where I saw it. I have googled and googled every combination of words I can think of and I can't find it again. So, if you find it can you let me know?

I'd better stop now. But, I did warn you about the ramblings......right?

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

WLW


This week I can really tell a difference in my body. I have lost a 1/2 inch from my waist and 2 inches from my hips (yay!). Total lbs lost for the week: 1. I've been trying to cut calories from a day overall - like if I eat something higher cal at lunch then have a smaller dinner or more veggies or something. Hydration is seriously key. Usually on the weekend I'm not as good at drinking water, but I found that I just don't like the chlorine flavor of city water. So, my simple remedy, (which I'm sure if just more of a placebo than actual official remedy) is to put water in a jug in the fridge. It seems to taste less chlorine-y that way. Pop over to Jennifer's blog to see how everyone else is doing :)

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

crochet fun

Can I please tell you that I went to spin class tonight after taking like over a week off, and it felt so GOOD! I can tell the difference in my body with the weight loss as I'm spinning, I know that sounds funny, but good stuff.
And so I had a fun package waiting for me in the mailbox, which I love! I participated in a crocheted matroyska doll swap on Swap-bot. It was pretty fun, I like to crochet amigurumis so it was easy and fun to embellish the doll. So, here's what I sent out:
Crocheted matroyska dollIt took awhile to embroider all the felt flowers on her, and I put buttons in the middle of each flower. I am thinking now that I should have added some ribbon around her neck. I was on the fence about it while I was embellishing and I had the cutest embroidered ribbon, oh well. I couldn't just send a lonely doll so I added the hot chocolate and book marker :)
And this is what I received today! Isn't she cute? This one turned out a little bigger than mine, could be the yarn used?
Crochet MatroyskaAs soon as I opened the package I put her right in the kitchen with my other amis! She came all the way from Finland :)
Crochet Matroyska

Monday, May 3, 2010

Sampling

I had an idea - and maybe the other ladies in the quilting bee have thought of the same thing? I've started a sampler quilt! For the last 2 quilt months I made a second square for myself. My goal is to have one of each of the squares by the end of the year and then will put them all together! Sounds fun, yeah? I'm thinking I will border them all with white. I think it will be super fun by the end and a good way to remember the experience - sort of like a scapbook :)

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Hooray

I'm a winner! Of course, I enter pretty much every giveaway I come across and I finally won something! Better yet, I love what I'm going to get! So, I must back up and explain I think. Jennifer started a blog for all things vintage sheets and as the grand opening she put up and interview and giveaway for each of 8 days! I know, right? How awesome is that. So, I won day #6's giveaway from Siouxsan of greendaffodil, and she also has a super cool etsy shop. So, I won a set of fat quarter vintage sheets in all browns and yellow - which I don't have any brown and only like 2 yellows in my stash so far! Bonus. I'm so excited!