Featured and lots of goodies!

First of all, I got an email from my blogger friend Jeanne and she told me I was famous....That kind of floored me and then I saw a link. Apparently C&T Publishing featured my Alice Apron on their blog...What an honor, and thank you Jeanne for bringing it to my attention....(here is the link)

http://www.ctpubblog.com/2010/08/26/august-creative-troupe-round-up/

My first official week selling furniture is over and I made it! The feet and brain are tired but I can do this. I know it will only get easier. My main battle is the sleep issue. Getting into a normal sleep pattern will be the biggest obstacle. I have been a night owl for too many years now.

It was really good to have a day off and putter about the house. I made an angel food cake and zucchini bread with zucchini from the garden. I cooked the husband a real dinner and he was so appreciative. We worked on the yard and in the garden. The garden is producing crazy and out of control...I love that I am able to share with all the neighbors who dont have one. Here is what I am getting on a daily basis....sometimes more....







The weather was in the cool and it just felt wonderful...I have been upstairs making more clothes for The Doll...I am making an outfit a day, so by Christmas time, Olivia will have a trunk case bursting with clothes...I cant show an outfit yet, because I have to have her "did up" from head to toe.. I have ordered tights and shoes, but they arent here yet. She is though....Meet our new friend, Ruth Anne.















I have discovered that I love to make doll clothes...The first little dress I made took me three hours, but now I have it down....I should've known I would when I fell in love with making paper dresses...Anyway, Ruth Anne is a Blythe doll from Japan and I am thrilled to have her. She came in the mail on Tuesday.

I also got a great package from Jen. http://misspunkiepie.blogspot.com
She was my partner in the Pincushion Pass...
She made me an Abbey Bag pincushion but changed it up a bit...She also included buttons and pins and ribbon, a scissor fob and the cutest ever squirrel pincushion.















I just love how cheerful the aqua and red is....It brightens up the corner of my cutting table! Thank you for your thoughtfulness Jen, I appreciate it......


I also sent out this months Enchanted Ornament to my partner Niki...The theme for August was the octopus....Ok, this one threw me for a loop...I thought and thought and then I saw a styrofoam ball and some organza...Here is my ornament....









So I took the blue and green ocean theme and ran with it....A faux cupcake to match, another sewn felt octopus, a tag and some buttons and rick rack and a box of orange candies for the kids....It all turned out to be a fun challenge and I can guarantee that my ornament is one of a kind.....










So now I am going to go in and finish the last book of the "hunger games" series....Awesome books I will tell you! Then it is bed...Thanks everyone for all your well wishes for my new job...I sure appreciate everyone!!!!! melinda

Blue is for.....

I am taking part in Jenny's Rainbow Summer School and this week the featured color is blue.....You can find all the participants and read their "blue" essays at jennymatlock.blogspot.com
Last night while once again battling the dreaded insomnia, I thought about the color blue. Blue isn't one of my favorites. I love water and the ocean and I thought of blue skies, but it just wasn't doing it for me....Then blueberries came to mind. I love blueberries. Then I remembered one of the first books I read, "Blueberries for Sal." So here is my blue story.







Once I learned to write my name, my mom took me to the Tillamook County Library to get my very own library card. It was an epic day. I loved the library and I loved books. It must've been towards the end of the school year because they were promoting their Summer Reading Program. My mom signed me up and we picked out books. I was five, almost six years old and so proud to have my own library card. The first book we decided to read was "Blueberries for Sal"







All I have to do is see the cover and I am transported back in time. Sitting on the couch with my mom in the middle, me on one side, my little sister on the other. My mom holding the book with me tucked under her arm and I am turning the pages. The feel of the nubby green sofa on my legs. The sound of my mom rubbing my little sisters back. She had to rub her back to get her to stay still for the story and even then it was a stretch. For weeks I begged for a berry bucket so I could hear the berries that I just knew we were going to pick plinking in my pail. I became Sal on that wonderful day walking up the trail with her bucket and eating the berries until my mouth was stained blue. It was an adventure even without the bear! The best part was to come though. I got to go to the library and the librarian marked my Summer Reading Program with a bookmobile stamp. I loved those stamps. They were blue bookmobiles and for years I had the completed sheet with all the wonderful stamps to show my progress. The highlight of my summer was when I got to stand on stage at the Tillamook County Fair right between the Pronto Pup stand and the cow barn to receive my award.








Under a blue summer sky I proudly got my last bookmobile stamp and a blue ribbon for reading 11 books. My mom and my sister watched and I knew they were proud of me. I was proud of me......I still love to read more than any other activity and it all started with a mom who was willing to take the time to share the gift of books and a story called "Blueberries for Sal." with her two little girls.

Winds of change a row quilt and stuff!

Yesterday was a huge day for me. I went back to being a career woman. I am tired, dog tired....Thank gosh I worked one day then had a day off to recoup...The rest of the week I wont be so lucky! Since the kids are gone, I decided to go get a real job. Something I haven't had in five years. A job with some earning potential and I got one...I am working for a big furniture store here in Utah and I am pretty excited about it. (if you are in Utah and you want to buy some furniture, email me!) Don has full veterans benefits but I don't qualify for them so we both made the decision for me to re enter the work force. I had to beautify myself up and go shopping for shoes to stand in all day and professional clothes...That part was really fun! Yes, the shoes do have heels, but they arent 3 inches....Can't live without some kind of heel.








Now we will see how it affects my craft and sewing time and my blogging time.....Bogging is a big time commitment, that is for sure.
Sunday was my birthday, the big four niner.....All I can say is 'weird"....But I would rather be 49, 69 or 89 than dead, least I am still kicking up a cloud of dust. We had a bbq and a really nice day. Don also took me to my favorite Japanese restaraunt the night before. I love sukiyaki......My present is also on it's way from Japan.....It is a Blythe doll...This one is from "dollymolly" on Etsy....She makes the cutest Blythe doll clothes and has several cutom dolls.







Olivia and I have been drooling over them for about six months. Our plan is to make clothes together and I want to learn to customize and sell them....This one from Dolly Molly is a custom doll....The one I have coming is called Nicky Lad....and I already have made a couple of outfits. I had never sewn doll clothes before...What an experience....Olivia is as excited as I am and has another doll all picked out.
I finished my "house row" for Barb's house row quilt....I did crazy houses with lots of colors. This is going to be a really cute quilt....The rows look so cute together and they all have a different style.










Off to sew a fuzzy pink Blythe coat!

The green sweater

I am once again apart of Jenny Matlocks Rainbow Summer School...This week the color is green. (jennymatlock.blogspot.com)

I love green and I thought and thought about what green thing to write about. Then I remembered my favorite green and white sweater...The year was 1976. I just turned 14 and went school shopping with my grandma who loved me like crazy. We drove to Astoria Oregon and went to this really cute boutique and she let me pick out a few outfits. (wasn't she awesome?) I found some cute things and we were getting ready to leave, when I saw it in the window....A zip up green and white sweater with a hood. In those days, there was no such word as hoodie' but that is what it was. I kind of ambled over and looked at the price tag. It was 35.00 which is a huge amount for then.....I wouldnt even ask for something like that. We met my Aunt Marilyn for lunch and we visited for a while. My Grandma went to check on an alteration she was having done. I got home that night, and there in the bag, was THE green sweater...Sometimes you just know when something looks really good on you and this was one of those pieces. It matched my eyes and flattered my petite figure. I felt pretty in it! I wore it on the first day of school even though it was 80 degrees out and I cooked all day. It was worth it, I looked cute I am sure. It was my favorite piece of clothing and I wore it a lot.
I wore it to my friend Maureen's house over Christmas vacation. She lived in the town of Milwaukie Oregon and I lived on the Oregon Coast. We spent a lot of school vacations together at one house or the other. My dad was really strict and wouldnt let me watch pg movies...A fact which I found humiliating. We went to Cinema 5 in Milwaukie and probably paid about a dollar to see the new movie Jaws.






Maureen had seen it and was excited to take me. She had me terrified by the time the previews were on. I was shaking with fear and ready to scream....and scream I did...Finally by the time the scene came on where Richard Dreyfuss is scuba diving and the head pops out, I reached my limit....(I had taken off my precious sweater and was gripping it thru the whole movie....) I pressed it in my mouth and bit a hole right in the hood....not a little hole either. I almost choked myself.










My poor sweater was done for....What a great and funny memory though...By the way, my dad found out I went to Jaws and I was grounded for two weeks....it was worth it.......And that is my green story.....Happy green day!

Alice Apron done!

Wow! This apron theme was a fun one...My partner was Val the hostess of the Hot mama Alice in Wonderland apron swap..She received her package today so I can now show it all...
First of all, the necklace in the previous post was for her to match her apron. I was so flattered that she actually wore it to work today...I can't wait to see a photo of her wearing it and the apron...
The apron itself I just played and had fun with...A thread painted pair of legs, A whimsical painted and sewn Alice and a lot of rolled and burnt organza flowers...I didn't use a pattern just kind of let it happen, and the best part? I used remnants of things I had that were left over from other projects!












Here is a close up of the flowers and a tied key...








Now you can see how the necklace ties in....

Also I made a faux Alice cupcake and made up a little bottle of elixer for the "drink me" potion.












I have no idea who my partner is, and I am excited to see what "they" do with this theme...There are a lot of really creative people in this swap! Remember, "we are all mad here!"

Hanging out......

Not much going on around here...We went for a couple of motorcycle rides up the Ogden Canyon....I played in a waterfall to cool off. I got some lavender and mandavilla plants on clearance at Loews and planted them this morning...Some of their plants just look terrible, but these are really pretty...The lady that had this house for years planted a lot of chives. You don't see them when you dig, but my hands just reek of onions. I am going to have to use a lemon on my hands when I am done. Soap isnt working.
I heard from my daughter in Portland. She wants to come back...Well, duh. I have'nt got to talk to the little kids at all...I sure miss them. Hopefully things will settle into some kind of routine for them.
I made a "bib statement" necklace that is kind of fun...I used frayed fabric to make rosettes and burned organza to make flowers...Then I filled it in with beads handsewn on....Yes, handsewn....I actually enjoyed doing it. It calmed my mind and my heart...I think the result is fun and I think it would be really pretty with a white button down shirt with it worn on the inside....











This is my first one, a little rough, but fun...I didnt have any glue sticks so I used tacky glue and it is a big giant pain....I did use an adhesive remover to get it off the flowers though and it worked. I just think a glue gun would make the whole process easier.
I also have been making quilt blocks. I won't show them now, but I am doing more sewing...Feels kind of good.




Last of all, I went to a photo editing site, photofunia.com and made a little "rocking out to the sixties" clip......yep that is my face on the body....funny huh?

The yellow honeybee.....

Tonight I am linking up to Jenny Matlocks summer school and the topic is Yellow....
I love yellow, the color of sunshine and butter and lemons...I love buttery yellow walls in a kitchen with white cabinetry and red accents..I like to use bright yellow when I make things but I never wear yellow unless I want to look like I am jaundiced yellow from something like Hepatitis C...You know in case I want a seat on a crowded bus or something like that...

I grew up in a small town and you know every small town has a character or two....We had Honeybee....She was a lady probably in her fifties and she loved the color yellow and everything bee.....I secretly admired her, her boldness, her attitude and her cleavage that defied gravity all wrapped up into a provocative yellow package.












She was a traffic stopper. She had an amazing platinum blond beehive for starters...













I have always been fascinated by beehive hairdo's.....This one was extra special because it always had the little fake bee's poked into it.



























She wore bright yellow halter tops and Black pants that hugged her little stinger. She favored yellow stiletto's and she had the wiggle down to an art.













She would buzz around town in her yellow Thunderbird with Honey bee emblazoned on the back....











She was an event just by showing up...She was built like one of these and knew how to use it....










I would look down at my flat little chest and dream....I admired her...To me she was a woman of mystery and beauty. One day at the post office, I finally got up the nerve to say something....
"Is your name really Honey bee?" I said....
"She looked me up and down and said, "you can just call me honey, sugar."
I was thrilled....We were friends. I waved to her from then on and she always waved back. My mom would just smile and say, "it takes all kinds."
I don't know where she went, or what happened to her but I like to think she went somewhere and had a magnificent life!
Maybe when I am fifty I will be a honeybee and all the little girls will admire me.......

The Quest For chickens, Part two....

The last few days I have managed to bring chickens into almost every conversation...By last night the husband wouldn't even bite...not a nibble...He just ignored me. I hate to be ignored.

While he was getting ready for bed, he mentioned that he was going to sleep in, in the morning..That isn't the usual for him. He gets up at 5:30 every morning. (Usually I am up until about 3:00.) He told me that meant that I had to get up with the animals....I was thinking, "get up with the animals? why?" "Don't they sleep until I get up?" I just told him ok...He smiled.....

I stay up and do the things I always do, puttering, reading, a little sewing...I roll into bed about three....Pretty soon, I am sound asleep.

I wake up to "FLAP,FLAP,FLAP, YAWN GROAN......" What the heck is that?

Don smiles....

Now there is a dog head even with my face and his eyes are staring at me...I look at the clock, it is 5:45.....I tell Cooper to lay on his bed...I start to drift off to sleep.....FLAP,FLAP FLAP, YAWN GROAN...he is beside me now....Don again smiles...

"He wants to go out" "remember I am sleeping in...."

Yeah ok.....in between the flap flaps, Cooper is now pacing in the hall so now his toenails are clicking.....FLAP, FLAP, FLAP, YAWN GROAN,click, click click....

Now Thomas jumps on the bed and then the headboard and uses it for a springboard to land on my legs....ooomph........Don Smiles.....
Here comes Joe bobbins to join the party in the bed....MEOW, meow, MEOW....

"Dare I ask what they want? " I said.....Don smiles....
"They want fed"...

I got out of bed and went in to tinkle....I shut the door. Cooper flopped right outside the door, Yawn groan, yawn , groan...Thomas stood on his hind legs and turned the doorknob back and forth and Bobbins meowed over and over...This is a great way to start the morning for a person that hates being up at the butt crack of dawn. I almost was afraid to open the door....

I fed the cats in the garage....Joe bobbins took a few bites and then came after me.....meow, meow meow.....Cooper is in the kitchen too flapping his ears against his head....I take a Tylenol or two.....
"don, what does bobbins want?"

"he wants you to pick him up and rub his tummy and talk to him."

I am thinking "oh good lord", but I do it and he purrs and then he stops meowing when I put him down.

Cooper is still doing the flap, flap, flap, click click, thing so I open the back door....."go out" I tell him......He just looks at me and yawns and groans....
The husband yells from the bedroom, "you have to go out with him..." I take the dog out there and stand for five minutes while he finds a spot...Then I bring him in and put food in his bowl....He eats and then waddles back to bed.

Now Thomas is at the door so I let him out, he can stay out until I get up...

I head back to the bedroom...the husband is still smiling....I said, "At least the rabbit is quiet." Just then I hear a cage rattling over and over....

"What?" I say.

"He has food and water!!! I looked when I was out there.

" I give him a treat in the morning and pet him" (you have got to be kidding.)

I go out and follow the normal routine and finally it is quiet...

I get back in bed...The husband turns on his side and looks at me and says "See why I don't want chickens?"

"and you need to let Thomas back in because he is hanging from the screen door...."

Defeat.....I concede....







for now

making things.....

I have been upstairs quite a bit working on a little bit of this, a little bit of that.....
One group I am in is making little fabric squares and then you sew them together and make a fabric binding and you have a journal.....
here are my little squares and they are mostly handsewn, which for me, doesnt happen very often!






The idea comes from Teesha Moore and she has made some beautiful fabric journals...She has a four part tutorial here...

http://teeshascircus.blogspot.com/2010/04/recap-of-materials-needed.html


In my group, we each did six and we will get six back and then the inside is going to be fabric postcards so the journal size will be four by six...I have to say it was kind of fun sitting downstairs and watching t.v while I did these.....Teesha's are amazing....go look....
I also have been playing and making faux cupcakes with a specific swap in my mind....here is my prototype....








It is shocking how real they look...I had them on a plate on the kitchen counter and I had to take them upstairs...They really make you want to take a bite....or go to the store at ten oclock at night in search of cupcakes....

I also finished my pincushion swap and it is already to mail.....I used red, turqoise and black and made a three tiered cushion.








Here is a little needle case to match...







I also sent her a cute pattern from a quilt store for a little girls jumper..I made one for Olivia in Kaffe Fasset fabrics and she just loved it...My partner has a little girl and it was fun to pass it on. Joanne from splitting stitches sent me a whole manila envelope with fusible backed fabric flowers...She cut them with her go cutter...I used one to make a matching card...







Happy Summer everyone!

Ideas......

(If you are here for Jenny's summer school Orange post....click on the link! Otherwise, keep reading....thanks....)
http://melindasfabricfancies.blogspot.com/2010/04/o-is-for-orange.html






Yesterday I had a crappy day. I slept a lot. Enough that Don got worried and made me get up and move around...Then I started feeling better and by then it was bedtime...he was the tired one now...He went to sleep and my mind went into overdrive...Not an unusual chain of events by the way. I started thinking of all the positive things that I could do starting tomorrow without the kids...I could take a bath by myself without kids pounding on the door. I could go to a Zumba class which I have been wanting to do...I could go to a movie with my sister and do the girl thing.....You get the idea. Then I started thinking that last year at this time when the kids left I got a kitten "to make me feel better"....Yeah, it was a great idea.....When I got him, he looked like this...














He was so cute and little and such a little snuggler and he still is! Except now, he looks like this....




















Joe Bobbins is one of my best friends...and he really did help me last year...Animals always know when someone is sick or upset and they are right there...Of course I also have Thomas,











And Cooper the giant yellow lab....shown here with a bunny in his mouth because he is feeling left out.....





















And my latest pet aquisition, Donalds, the little bunny who I love to cuddle and love.....and he loves me back....

















So I am lying there, the wheels spining, and I am thinking and thinking....What I have been lobbying for, is a nice little chicken or two and now there are no kids in the backyard....and we have a garden and chickens eat bugs and it would cheer me up soooooo much to go pick out a couple of nice chickens......Don is right next to me snoring away....But I have to play this one out right....Finesse you know.

"snore"
"honey, are you awake?'
"mumble, bumgle"
"honey?'
"yeah I'm awake......whats wrong?"
"I know what will make me feel better..."

He is totally quiet...I think he is scared......

"Do you want to know what it is?'

I get a very hesitant ok...

"Well remember how last year when the kids left I got a kitten and it made me so happy and now Joe Bobbin's isnt a kitten anymore so I think I should get another kitten...." ( all in one breath)

"We're not getting another kitten honey"

"please, please please...."

"no kitten, now go to sleep"...

"what kind of pet can I get?"

"no pets, we have enough pets, go to sleep."

he immediately lets out a big snore......


(moving in for the kill...)


"Chickens arent pets...."

"mumble, mumble....

"chickens eat earwigs and you know I have an earwig phobia....and then we wouldnt have to treat the yard and they make little chickens you know, it doesnt have to be the big giant chickens and I have had them beofre and they arent a lot of work and I know you will get a kick out of them too...

"We are not going to have a bunch of chickens in the yard..."

"how about two chickens....?"

"ok, honey, we will talk about this in the morning, now go to sleep!"

I am thinking SCORE! I am getting chickens...woohoo....I finally went to sleep dreaming of happy little chickens pecking in the garden and the hours I would spend watching them and the names I would give them.....you know, all that stuff.....


So I am finally sleeping away and I hear Don talking at me.....
What I hear is the teacher in Charlie Brown saying "wah, wah,wah wah wah wah". I try to focus with crossed eyes....
Ok, I can see him now...I am trying to hear and read lips...something about watching something....

I slide out of bed, I dont have bones yet and stumble towards him...He grabs my arm and steadies me as I mumble "diet coke"....(my caffeine of choice)....He steers me into the living room, plops my butt on the couch and gets me a diet coke....

"now I know you are half asleep, but I want you to pay as much attention to this show as you can...It's important....
I nod and try to look alert...this must be really important if he is waking me up....
He turns on the tv and goes to the recordings on the dvr.....now I am a little more awake and getting alarmed....what is going on? did someone bomb someone? was there a tidal wave?
The show comes on, Don smiles, I do a slow burn....
There is a new show on Animal planet...its called "animal hoarders"....grrrrr

I have never heard of anyone hoarding chickens !!!!...We might have to have a talk about this one.....I am thinking about three in the morning.....enough said......

For the birds........

I have been staying busy the last couple of days, just trying to pull myself together and adjust to one more change...I actually am doing ok. I thank you all my friends, for your support and emails....Art and sewing are good therapy...Don and I also went for a long motorcycle ride yesterday and then he took me to lunch..Being outside always helps my spirits.
I am in an mixed media art group and we had a birdhouse magnet swap so I made these today....Sometimes it is fun to play with paper and glue and paint...I like how they turned out....I am sending these three and getting three in return. They look really cute on the refrigerator.






A few days before the kids left, I also got a Vintage Vacation package in the mail from Angelina of Angelinascards.blogspot..... I feel bad it took me so long to post this, but things have been kind of crazy. I sent her the vintage mermaid bag and things...It is funny, cause we both went with blue and the beach...










It is always so fun to get other people's work...Especially when it is different than anything I make. Angelina's cards are really beautiful. She made me tags, a package of pink notecards with a retro beach beauty, a shell wreath and a delicate little crepe paper tree...She also sent me two candles and a candleholder....It all goes so well with my mermaid package that I won from Holly about a week ago! I have it all together in our bedroom and it is so pretty...A little taste of home here in Utah. Here is a close up of the tree....










I have made some other things too, but they are works in progress so I will save them for later...Tonight I am going to work on a pincushion...I got some really fun fabrics to mix and match..Thanks again everyone! I appreciate you!

Days like this........

I havent posted much the last week...Once again there are big changes here on the homefront. My daughter Lisa, has once again taken the kids and moved to Portland....Yes, again. I knew it was going to happen, but I guess I was still hoping beyond hope that she would change her mind. She left yesterday and is now in Portland...kids and all. She left a good job, her first home on her own and a built in babysitter to go back and try to make it work with the baby's father...There is nothing I could say to make her think about it. So I said goodbye....again, and have been crying oceans of tears. Yesterday I went to bed and pulled the covers over my head and stayed that way for 24 hours. Today I am up and ready to live again. Thank God for my wonderful husband who puts up with my theatrics and my crazy family. Lisa took Daniel, my oldest grandson back to his mom on the way, so it is very quiet here....Two days ago, Don took some pictures of the kids and I in the yard...Here are my beautiful babies.....













Now I am going to go sew away my sadness.......