i am not a pinterest sensation

I'm writing this while waiting for a coat of paint to dry in  the powder room off my kitchen. Painting in that little tiny room is awkward to say the least. Cutting in around all those pipes and whatnot has made me sort of grouchy and resentful (of pipes). Lately I've been running across all of these links to the before and after pictures that people post of their new houses. Houses that they have completely redone, all at once. Floors, walls, cabinets, everything. They make comments like, "It's been a long six weeks but....". How? How are these people doing this?! A. Houses are kind of expensive, how do they have all this left over money to do all this major stuff? B. How do they look at a space that is brand new to them and imagine something completely different and awesome? Obviously the whole 'two houses' thing severely limits the amount of money I can pour into re-doing a new house, but still. Even if I had money coming out of my ears, I can't decide that fast. I wander around gazing at things. I buy so very many of those little jars of sample paint and I spackle my house with different colors trying to decide. I can't commit to hanging anything, even in the rooms in which I have managed to both pick a color and actually get it up on the walls because well, I don't actually know why. I just can't seem to. It's all just sort of overwhelming and I'm having a hard time really getting started, let alone having some fabulous, overarching vision for the whole place. Probably, this is just proof that I am not a designer at heart. I know what I love and I can usually decide what I want to do with one little piece of my world eventually but it takes me a while decide and I often change my mind. I think in pieces and steps, not whole house, whole project. Clearly, I have no vision. Ah well.

Why yes, two of those samples are exactly the same. I bought the same sample twice. 

Can you tell which two match?

thoughts on a windy day

Good heavens, is it blowing outside! Like 40 miles an hour blowing so my tall house is creaking and groaning a little and the lilac petals have all blown away. It's just like Pooh's blustery day. I am sort of waiting for something unexpected to fly by in the wind. I am wandering around the house searching for pools of afternoon sunshine in which to linger. It's completely unproductive but I promise as soon as I am finished I am going to clean the sewing room. There's lots of good sun up there. I haven't written as much lately because I've been sort of introspective and thoughtful lately. No reason why, just am, so I've been busy thinking. Oh, yes, and painting. My little project ended up taken many more coats than expected and Hobby Lobby was out and I had to order it online and on and on and on. Tymon can now resume parking in the garage and I finally have yellow furniture. I have always wanted yellow furniture. It's the color of sunshine after all.

what's happening in my garage

Today I am painting something the same color as sunflowers. Can't wait to show you because I get cheerful just thinking about it. Happy sigh.

(Painting is Vase with Twelve Sunflowers by VanGogh)

blushing like crazy

Today my little shop is being featured on one of my favorite style/design blogs! Feeling pretty special, let me tell you. If you don't read Down and Out Chic, you should, it's delightful and today you can enter to win one of my aprons for free. Enter here!

the kindness of aquaintances-thankful

I often visit my favorite sewing machine shop here in town to drool over the fancy machines, buy accessories for my own machine, ask inane questions and to pet the resident cat. They are always lovely to me even though I never spend more than about $10. Sunday evening I was finishing up an order for a boutique here in town that stocks my stuff. They are a new client and I am trying really hard to be their favorite supplier. Needless to say, the timing on machine went out at about 9:00 p.m.. I took the entire thing apart, cleaned it and fiddled appropriately but you really can't fix the timing on your own. You need special tools. I went rushing into the store at 9:05 (they open at 9) and begged them to fix it and could they do it right now because I had an unfinished order due at noon. Pretty please? Nope, sorry, other people before me. My heart sank, but the bad news was followed by an immediate offer of a loaner machine so that I wouldn't have to go without a machine, even for the 24 hours it would take to fix mine. Free of charge. My order was completed in the nick of time and obviously I am making the guys at the sewing machine shop cookies. They didn't have to do that, I wouldn't have held it against them, I would have continued to be a loyal customer. They knew that and did it anyway. Bless them.

apprenticeship

Last time I went to the doctor, he had a new medical student. While she was taking my blood we got to chatting and she asked the question dreaded by many a stay-at-home mom (or at least, by me), "So, what do you do?"  I dread this question because it's not really a one-word answer anymore, it's an explanation. "Now I'm home with my kids but I used to be a teacher and sometimes I'm and actor and eventually I'm going to...." No one really wants or needs this much information. This time it came out "I'm a seamstress which is great because I work from home." I didn't even think about it, it just came flying out of my mouth. My dear friend Amber who recently abandoned me for the mountains, and is a master seamstress, is laughing her head off that I claimed to be such a thing. Who do I think I am? It's like this. All of the sudden I sew for money. People call me and tell me what they want, we take a few measurements and I make it. I do alterations and zippers and blind hems. I can even do embroidery for a little extra. I design many of my own patterns and alter most of the commercial ones I use. I sew most days and much of what I make is for my little business. It's kind of a lost art and while I haven't been doing it as long as some I have really put a lot of time and effort into learning the ins and outs and secrets of this craft. I am by no means a virtuoso yet, but I am more than competent and I am proud of the work I do . Proud to claim a piece or a design as my own. Proud to do something pretty well that many don't do at all anymore. I may not yet be an Amber-caliber seamstress, but perhaps good enough start growing into my new-found profession.

i love people who plan ahead for christmas

I was doing so well.

I was staying away from two of the places that get me into the most trouble. You guessed it, Hobby Lobby and Target. Yesterday, I had 45 minutes to kill and since I needed a few small pieces of material thought I'd spend it wandering around Hobby Lobby. Now, I have like six new projects. That is what happens at good ole' HB. You think of projects and then find yourself conveniently surrounded with all the supplies for said project. 'Cause I don't have enough to do.

This morning it was Target for the 30 minutes between when Tommy's class begins and when I can drop Johnny off for KDO. They put brand new things on clearance just yesterday apparently. Sigh. I shouldn't have even looked. But, of course, I did. Beautiful blue satin trench coat, but that's beside the point. I need to be saving for retirement and Disney World and and college and such. Ah, well. I didn't get carried away or anything, it's just the principle of the thing.

Luckily, I got several new custom orders yesterday so I had better be off to get them put together. Mommy has to pay for a new trench coat.

*Note-It's not yet on clearance on line, but it was in my store.

it's all for you, i swear

Today I am unintentionally fancy. I have glitter all over my neck, chest and (gasp!) my cleavage. See lately I have taken to wearing lots of v-necks and yesterday I was very Martha and homemade many of my Halloween decorations. With glitter. Now the entire kitchen floor is just a bit sparkly and will remain so until I have mopped it a few times. Plus, it turns out that one shower is not enough to remove said sparkles from my person. I imagine the people at Wal-Mart this morning felt blessed indeed to have spent time with my thus bedecked self. Tymon is concerned that we will forever have glitter in the cracks and crevices of our home (I don't think it bothers him so much on my body, wink, wink). I fail to see how this is a problem. One, I am a pretty good little housekeeper and will eventually rid our domain of the substance completely. Two, really, would it be so bad if ,every once in a while we caught a glimpse of a little extra sparkle as we go about our daily lives? I think not. Love live glitter. And Martha.

it's probably a bit much but, there i go

My very first craft show is tomorrow. I am a vendor. That's right folks, a vendor. I am a nervous wreck. I know, KNOW, I haven't thought of something vital. I'm not ready. Aaack. This is worse than speaking in church. It's just that I want everyone to like me and love the stuff I make because I love it. I'm not good at rejection and what if they reject me? What if they snub me or secretly make fun of me while tittering with their friends behind their hands. Like I have done (albeit it discreetly). Please Karma, do me a solid, I'm a good person, I am kind to children and animals and I promise to never make fun of the people running tables at the flea market ever again, even discreetly, even when they are selling totally crazy stuff. Promise.  Wish me luck and feel free to come visit if you happen to be a local. The address is 11215 West 13th St N Wichita, KS 67212. I have to go hyper-ventilate now.

3.14

I have a raging headache this afternoon. Raging. Unfortunately I have this grudge against processed food and so there is nothing quick and easy in my house to make for dinner. I have macaroni and cheese, but the guilt I feel every time I make it was just not worth it today. It's not even really food. So I stood there staring into the fridge and contemplating. The meat was all frozen and the extra step of defrosting was just a bit more than I could bear. Hmmmm. More contemplation. Eggs? I could totally do something with eggs. Something......Quiche? That sounded pretty good but I didn't have a frozen pie crust. Boo. I make a lot of things from scratch, most things, but not pie crust. When I was a teenager my mom spent years, seriously, years finding and perfecting the perfect pie crust. It looked hard. Plus, I don't believe in sifting and apparently that was required. Actually, I wasn't ever going to be able to do it as well as my mother so really, why bother. This is also why I'm not much of a quilter. But I just couldn't think of anything else. I looked up a recipe in one of my trusty books. It didn't look all that hard. I ignored the sifting part. I think I even looked like I knew what I was doing to the friend who happened to be visiting while I was preparing it. Bonus. And guess what? Just like everything else homemade it turned out waaaay better than the store bought stuff, tender and flaky and totally yummy. I even sprinkled the leftover dough with cinnamon and sugar to make little cookies. Except that I forgot that those were in the oven for a really long time and they didn't actually turn out all that well. But the quiche was great and that's pretty good when your brain is on the verge of exploding all over the walls.

****P.S. If you were planning on donating the Race for the Cure but you haven't gotten around to it now is the time. My deadline is Friday night. I am really close to my goal and I'd love to reach it for Shauna. If you are awesome and have already donated you may look for pink cherry shortbread cookies in your mail box sometime near the beginning of October as a heartfelt thank you for your incredible generosity. For those of you who haven't donated, if the cookies have motivated you (they are totally worth it!) click the link in the sidebar to donate. Thanks everyone!

branching out

Over the last year I have been flexing my sewing muscles and enjoying it thoroughly. I have opened a little Etsy shop to sell some of my wares and you , dear blog readers, get the first peek. Inventory is a little limited right now but new things will be added every few days. Please feel free to help me spread the word. If nothing else, the page views will make me feel popular.

Check it out using the link in the sidebar.

living vicariously

I don't have little girls and I want it to be perfectly clear that I am totally O.K. with that. However, today I was making a tutu for the daughter of a friend and needed a model.

I could just die, could you? 'Cause I could. just. die.