Another Random Thursday

I may not always have time to sew, but I always have time for Random apparently...

• Athena performed yesterday and then acted in a play tonight about Hatsheput, the first female Pharoah.  I'll have pictures tomorrow.  She did so great!!

• The kids and I ran a color run this past weekend.  Where volunteers literally chuck colored corn starch at you while you run.  Sounds weird--but tons of fun.  Poor Emma was sick with a stomach bug but wanted to run so badly that she ended up puking about halfway through (we'd been walking for almost a mile anyway) and couldn't finish.  But Oren and I did.  It was kind of a let-down when Chris and Em were already in the truck by the time we finished, but we still had a lot of fun.

• I finished up my bee blocks for Katie today.  She asked for Rugby Stripe blocks via Alex's tutorial.  She's making quilts for her nephews for Christmas and asked us to help out.  Now I want to make an orange and blue quilt for Oren's bed like this.  I looked at everyone else' photos and my blocks are way scrappier than the rest...hopefully they won't stand out too much in the quilt.  I hate that when you question what you've made afterwards by comparing it to others...  Comparison is the thief of joy you know.

Better pictures to follow tomorrow

• On a lighter note--I got my hair cut yesterday.  And when I say cut--I mean cut--like inches and inches cut.  I am never afraid of change with my hair because it grows pretty fast and I really trust my hairdresser.  Is that correct terminology--hairdresser?  I kinda feel like an old lady when I say that.  Is stylist better?  Anyway, I showed her these pics and told her to go for it.

This color

with

this cut

Here's what I ended up with...

I am not the queen of selfies.  In fact, I am like the anti-selfie-taker.  I cannot successfully take a good picture of myself!!

• I think I'll actually like it even more as it grows out, so fingers crossed this style works for me for awhile.  I think so.  Also, sometimes I dye my hair dark about this time of year, but decided to go with a darker blonde this year for now.  I read that honey and caramel blondes are where it's at right now--and you know me--shades of hair color named after foods--I'm on that.  It's not near as dark as the picture I took in to show, but I do like it.  I can always darken it as we get farther into fall and winter.

• Now I'm working on fall-inspired blocks for Shannon and our Empower circle of do. Good stitches.  She told us "Fall...go." well, a little more than that, but in a nutshell.  Our circle is great about trusting each other and being creative which I love.  We've done many quilts with a general idea only and come up with amazing results.  I couldn't have asked Rachel to put me in a better circle of friends and quilters.

Any guesses on what this will be??

• Last Friday Oren and I went on a field trip to a local (generally-speaking--it was about 45 minutes away) farm that has an awesome fall pumpkin patch and corn maze.  They had all kinds of fun things for the kids to do and they had a ball.  I got some great pictures of their flowers since I did nothing with my yard this year and have only weeds to show for it.  

Zinnias are my favorite.

And the fields of sunflowers...be still my heart!!

• When I finish up these blocks for Shannon, I've got my d.Gs quilt from May to finish piecing the top for.  I had to wait on some solids and then lost my mojo, but I feel it coming back to me...  And then I'm starting a project for my Dad for Christmas.  I wish I had a day or two with nothing but sewing hours in them...

Phew..that's plenty of random and more pictures than you really needed, but I sure feel better.  I'm linking up with Cindy and her awesome randomness.

What have you been up to lately??

Lost and Found

So I had no intention of not blogging for a month.

Really, I didn't even know it had been that long.  But you see, my blog got lost.  My life got so full of other stuff--PTO, softball, karate, doctor appointments, subbing, running, etc, I couldn't find it.

So, after a full month of running around, I decided to take a few days to re-prioritize.  To look for what mattered most and you know what I found...

I found me.  And part of me is sewing.  Knitting.  Baking.  Creating.

So I found my way back here.  My blog--my time for me, my time spent with y'all, my very creative friends is important and has been found.

I've got a ton of things I wish I were working on, but this week I'm making something gold and silver and white.

You might look at the calendar and assume it's a Halloween costume of some sort.  It's not.  My sweet girl has been studying the Ancient Egyptians and Greeks in her Enrichment program at school and they're putting together exhibits and a play for the other 4th graders and us parents.

Emma's going to be Athena.  And Athena needs a worthy costume.  Em and I sat down with pencil and paper and she let me know just what she had in mind.  A gold bodice, white skirt, silver breastplate...she thought it through.  We went to JoAnn's where she picked out what she thought would work.  Athena's famous for wisdom, weaving, owls and war.  So we obviously needed fabric that showed off it was woven.  We needed silver for a breastplate, and we needed gold fabrics that looked regal enough for a Goddess.

I'm waiting for my little Athena to get home tonight so I can try this bodice on her before I add the skirt.  It looks awful small, like I messed up somewhere in my calculations...let's hope not.  Gathering all that sheer fabric over the (cheap) satin was a pain and I'd rather not do it again.  haha

I've missed y'all, my dear friends.  I promise to try and make time to always share with you and not let my creative endeavors get lost again.  It takes away a big part of me and I'm worse off for it.

What have you been up to and what are you working on this week?

p.s.  I THINK my bloggy birthday is coming up...  So that means there'll be goodies given away around here!  Check back soon!

My life...

gets busy.
is full right now.
consists of managing the schedules of 4 people. I have no idea how we have so much going on!
is so blessed that I'm not sure I could ask for more.

Sorry for the disappearing act, but life got full and something had to give.  In January, I spoke of balance.  Finding balance between all of the many jobs I try and do.  I am yet to find that balance.  I find that I flit from one thing to the next and that when push comes to shove, the part of my life that gets left behind is the part that is solely me.  That way I'm not letting anyone down but myself.  That way, everyone has what they need.  Except for me...

Except that when I lose my creativity--my time for sewing, knitting, blog-reading, book-reading, bible-reading, prayer time--I lose the glue that holds the rest of me together too.  So I slog through what has to be accomplished and feel tired every night.

And so it was last week.  Between PTO responsibilities, Halloween, celebrating Chris' birthday, homework, dance classes, Homecoming Week and the annual Run for Fun at school, there wasn't any time left for anything else...

But...my schedule is opening up.  My shoulders are feeling the burden lifted.  My creativity is rising up.

Balance is something I will need to continue to focus on and work harder at.  Balance is apparently not my strong point.  But, it is something that God has given me ample opportunity to work on.  And so I will...

I'm leaving you today with a smile.  Yes, Oren was an old-school ghost and yes, I did curl and spray-paint Emma's hair red.  It was awesome and I think she has quite a future as a red-head.  Her Daddy just grimaced and said he better buckle up for this ride.  ;)

I'll be back tomorrow...hopefully!

Finished it Friday!!

Yay!!!  Who doesn't love finishes?  I know I do.  It makes all of those WIP's seem less daunting!

Today I have 3 finishes, and crazy enough, they're all clothing.  Well, clothing is that much quicker and all 3 of the projects had a deadline, so...  But still, a finish is a finish and I'm happy to share them!

This week was Literacy Week at school and the kids came home Monday with a paper saying Wednesday was Character Dress Up Day.  Emma was very worried about what to be.  Her favorite books right now are Nancy Drew (I know, she's 7!), but Nancy's kinda hard to dress up as and be recognizable, you know?  So Tuesday afternoon she decided to be a Rainbow Fairy from the popular series by Scholastic.  She went to ballet with Daddy and I looked at all of her fairy books and what I had to work with and found a red linen skirt of mine that I'd put in the refashion pile.  So, Ruby the Red Fairy it was.  Here's what Ruby looks like:

 And here's our version:

I fitted the skirt to Em and then sewed a new side seam.  Then I took the discarded edge and used the bottom ruffle to make ruffled straps for her shoulders and the ties from her shoes.  She already had the red sparkly shoes (thank Goodness!!) and we used scrapbook flowers stuck to a headband for her hair.  Since her hair is to short to braid, we just pulled it into a side pony and stuck a flower clip in.  These pics are after school and a trip to the big city, so imagine it looking a little more pulled together in the morning!  ;)

And Oren was a cowboy.  It was the best I could do with little notice.  He was happy as long as he got to wear the bandana.  And he outgrew his cowboy hat, so...

Yes, that is a container with sand in it for a gun...it was closest when I asked him to pose!

Then, I got one of the 4 baby gifts I'm working on done!  My friend had her 3rd right before Christmas while I was on vacation, so I whipped up this little dress for her today.  It's from the free tutorial at Sew Much Ado for an Infant Peasant Dress.  I have a pattern for peasant dresses already, but the smallest it goes is 6 months, so this was perfect!  The pattern was easy to follow and so cute!

I used an old denim dress for fabric and embroidered this little design to the front.  I love how it came out and can't wait to see sweet Kennedy in it!  Honestly, I immediately wanted to make one for Emma too.  Maybe I should make a matching one for Kennedy's big sister.  She's Emma's age...  Hmmmmm.....

Finally, I whipped up this cute and simple shrug from my friend Jenny's new pattern.  I went for a very simple gray knit this time around since it's already warming up here and I didn't want anything too heavy, but I think this pattern would be great in a pretty sweater knit, cordoroy, or even a faux fur!  The directions couldn't be simpler and I was done in less than an hour from start to finish.  I did choose to bunch up the "neckline" to give it a collared effect.  That's the only change I made to it.  I plan to add a big flower to one shoulder, but I didn't get it made just yet...  That can be a finish for next week, I guess!

So, I've still got quilts in progress, but at least I can cross one baby gift off of the list and I made my sweet girl happy with a fairy costume this week.  Isn't sewing great?  Have a great weekend, everybody!!

Introducing Wall-E and the Rock Star (or the year I decided I’m done making Halloween costumes, maybe…)

I am very sentimental about certain things in life.  I LOVE for my kids to have homemade Halloween costumes, Christmas outfits, Easter outfits, gifts to give their teachers, etc.  I just have this certainty that some things require me slaving over or they won’t be right.  And yes, that often means I end up staying up late or thinking bad thoughts as I spend time with my seam ripper, and yet, I can’t convince myself to go store bought.  This year’s Halloween costume experience may have helped me come to my senses.  It’s not that either of my children’s costumes were at all difficult this year, in all reality, I got off light.  It’s that my daughter is getting stronger and stronger opinions as she gets older and she no longer is okay with Momma making all the choices.  The nerve of her…  ;)  I'll just say, we had some differences in creative opinions this year.  I am realizing that arguing and agonizing over Halloween costumes may not the best use of our time and maybe buying a costume (as painful as it is for me) might soothe some tension and free up a BUNCH of time for me to do projects that I have total creative freedom over.

  As the title suggests, Oren wanted to be Wall-E from the Disney movie this year.  We went through a rather long Wall-E phase a year or so ago and he still loves it.  I found some really great directions for a Wall-E costume online and went for it.  It’s far from perfect, but he LOVED it and he got so many compliments on it.  Who knew you could be so cute in a cardboard box and safety goggles??

  Emma wanted to be a rock star.  She had very specific ideas for her outfit and the final result is a large compromise from both of us.  We bought tulle and a few shirts originally.  I was thinking of a tutu, but she drew out what she wanted for me and it was obvious she wanted a pettiskirt.  Well, I tried…but tulle in a pettiskirt just didn’t work.  Honestly, I tried, but unless she wanted to go as a “grungy, I don’t care about my appearance and bump you for thinking I do rock star”, she was not leaving the house in that thing.  So, I told her it wouldn’t work and she agreed to the tutu.  Luckily, I could cut it apart and salvage almost all of it for the tutu.  I spent hours gathering that thing up, only to spend about 1 cutting it apart and reassembling it as a tutu.  Then I ironed on some rhinestone gems just because I had them and I thought it would be really cute to add to it. 

   She said all along that she wanted to use a white t-shirt and spray paint black on to it and then I’d appliqué a guitar on the front.  Well, Saturday morning (yes, I was finishing it hours before she was supposed to wear it) when I showed her what the paint would look like on it (using a old shirt of Chris’ for practice) she decided that she just wanted polka dots above and below the guitar.  So, I made a black satin (since I’d bought it for the pettiskirt) guitar and used some purple and blue scraps to match the tutu.  Then I showed it to her on the shirt and she changed her mind again and said she wanted the spray painted look.  I got the shirt all ready to paint and she said really all along she’d wanted a black shirt (which I’d tried to get her to go with from the beginning and been denied).  So, in the end we put the black guitar on the black shirt and when Chris said you couldn’t really see it I told him to hush before I started crying from the stress this easy costume was bringing me!!!!

  In the end, she was so cute.  I’d gotten little press-on nails and some hair spray paint and we glammed her up rather nicely.  We’d made some shoes together recently (our cheap-o version of Twinkle Toes that I refuse to pay $40 for) and she threw those on to.

One of Emma's oldest friends--they were born 3 weeks apart! 

   Final result--both kids were happy with their costume and I was proud for them to show off what we created together.  They looked absolutely precious and we had a great time with some good friends.  We have trick or treated with the same family since the girls were very little and we always enjoy it.  The Halloween Carnival was a lot of fun with bounce houses, games and (lucky me) even a new goldfish as a prize.

Notice the tutu and all glamour nails are gone...it was a fun night of playing!

So my life lesson here is that while I may love the end result of homemade, there comes a time when I may have to admit that store bought is at least an option, if not the best route to take.  Someone remind me of this lesson next October, huh???

  We've got one more opportunity to wear the costumes.  Chris' high school is having a trick or treat at the school on Tuesday and we'll attend that as well.  I'll try and get some closeup pictures to add here when I can...come back on Wednesday or Thursday to see those!