every little thing

The Wild One

Sorry I've been absent again!  I feel a bit like Miss doll-head over here.  Droopy eyed, disheveled and displaced.  I guess September can do that to you. 

Back to school time is always exciting.  Especially if your little angel has been spoiled all summer long, and has an inherent  disregard for authority figures.  He's one of those kids that everyone says has a big "personality", which can really mean many different things: bossy, obstinate, showboat, thug (to name a few.)   I was pretty good this year though, I didn't do any major crying on the first day, after I dropped him off.  I did have to shake of the overwhelming urge to sit on the porch, chain smoke, and worry.  But that's not my fault, that's my Greek ancestry rearing it's ugly head.  You know, the Greeks actually invented the art of chain smoking and worrying......and Democracy.   But anyway, wow, having kids is really fun.  Really.  I mean, where did this kid come from?  I was (am) a quiet, bookish nerd that never spoke up.  How am I supposed to raise this wild animal?  I can barely even relate to him.  Luckily, he is insanely cute and cunning, so with luck he will win over his teachers heart, as he did mine, and all will be well.  (and this is only preschool.  he he.....I'm in trouble.)

Jiffy Mix

I love it when things are fast and easy, yet still satisfying.  Like Jiffy Cornbread mix.  And these curtains.  I made them a few weeks ago.  I did a rolled hem all the way around (workin' the serger, baby!) and then slipped a tension rod in a pocket.  All done in less than 15 minutes.  I'm a big fan of the tension rod for several reasons.  For one thing, our house is like 100 years old, and drilling into the walls to mount hardware of any kind is a risky move with old plaster.  You better do it right the first time, and even if you DO...it will probably chip, crack start the paint peeling and God knows what else.  It's murder for people who frequently change their mind about window treatments (like me.)  Tensions rods are so easy, movable and also cheap.   I realize they don't work in every situation, but for these light, half curtains I think they are perfect.   And I love polka dots. 

Oh!  And Look What I Got!!!

It's my first Blythe!  Courtesy of the awesome Jeannine, a local blogger I got to meet in person, which was just so fun!  Her Blythe skills are something to aspire too, as you can see in her flickr pictures.  She's also just a completely sweet person and was so nice to give me tons of resources for customizing and making clothing.  She saved me lots of on line searching, and that is a very good thing!  I'm naming this doll Seraphina.  The name does a have a hidden, and somewhat obscure meaning.  Nothing to do with the Patron Saint Seraphina, whose story is terribly depressing, even for a saint.  It was a busy weekend though, and I didn't get to work on her much yet.  Just a hair wash and a small trim.  Oh, and I started on her back to school outfit, but all I finished so far are the  stockings.

 

I found the boots in a big bag of old doll shoes I bought at the thrift store for 99 cents.  It took me a while to match up all the pairs, and toss the ones that didn't fit.  In the end, I wound up with about 12 pairs of shoes,  some random mini coat hangers, 2 handbags and 3 hair clips.  I think that's pretty fair for under a buck.

After severely neglecting the blog last week, I'm now off to the beach for a couple of days.  Sorry about that.  But I'll be taking the camera,  video camera  and these two character with me:

So who knows what sort of interesting stories I may come back with.

Happy Monday All! 

Danger

So, Mike broke his right hand on Tuesday, now he's in a cast for six weeks.  Ugh!  I know!  At the height of summer...no more swimming at the beach or pool, general awkwardness, showers with garbage bags tied over his arm.  Poor guy.  We aren't really sure if he'll be able to drive (stick shift) so I'm currently the chauffeur to and from work, which I don't mind at all, but I'm sure will be super-annoying to him when the novelty wears off.  Everyone has their own "morning routine", you know.  I'm very grateful for the timing though, as my little sister was already planning to come stay with us for a bit and that will help a lot.  Max is not a morning person, and injured father or not, he doesn't like to wake up early these days.   (Aww, signs of the surly teenager to come, no doubt!)

So, please forgive my absence this week.  I'm still going to try very hard to get the new miniatures over in the Emporium later today.  (Think WAY later...like evening time.) 

***No shop update yet, sorry!  I'm still playing nurse, but things are calming down now.  Check back for updates over the weekend!

(Hey, Caitlin....are we living parallel lives, or what?!  Ok, off by a week or two, but STILL!)

32

So, I'm finally typing my "Happy Birthday" post to my man now, and technically, his birthday is over (by about 5 minutes.)  That has been the general tone for today.  Everything has been off by 5 minutes or so; late for the party, home from work late, dinner was late.  Sure, we can celebrate more this weekend, but today was not nearly as festive as it should have been.  No present from Max and I (because he got THIS already last week.)  Maybe birthdays just get less exciting as you get older, maybe I've been too busy lately to juggle real life and parties too.  That's just not like me, to sacrifice the fun to finish the work (and the work ain't even finished...that's the sad part.)  I'm so distracted lately.  Even  at the party his employees at work threw for him today, it was outside behind the shop, and instead of focusing on Mike, I was fawning over  a wild blackberry bush in the corner.  It was huge and overflowing with berries.  I was totally entranced, "Can I come back and get these when they are ripe?  I could make so much jam!!  Wow, why didn't you ever tell me this was back here?!  Just look at all of those vines...."  Meanwhile, Mike is like "Um, hello. It's me the  Birthday-Boy over here,  can I get some attention please, or do you only acknowledge things that bear fruit?"  Not a pretty picture. 

I'm gonna make it up to him, though.  I'm sure my terrible scatterbrained behavior lately is just a phase.  I'll get over it soon, right? (gulp.)

Oh, well.  Happy Birthday anyway, sweetie.  Sorry it was kinda lame.  (Luckily, Father's Day is right around the corner, offering  a quick opportunity to redeem myself! Any great Father's Day fun-party ideas?  I'd loooove some help on this one!)

happy, happy

My sister is visiting, and that makes me VERY happy.  And so does this pie....

It's chillin' in the fridge right now, but I can already tell how wonderful it's going to be.  Thanks so much Jane's Apron (Julie), for this amazingly simple, my-new-favorite-pie, recipe.  The only thing I added was a smidge of lemon zest.  Because I'm a lemon freak, and I try to use my fancy new micro plane whenever I can find the chance. 

So, whenever my siter is here we HAVE to go thrifting.  It's just a rule.  We only went to 2 stores, but oh my lordy did we find some goodies! 

I officially own the largest supply of pink, red and black gingham now.  And I can't WAIT to  make  some limited-edition strawberries to go in those old school berry baskets.   Those gold pine cone earrings are my new favorite possession.  And the raspberry syrup?  I see some Italian sodas in the very near future......

smoochy*smoochy

In all the craziness this week, I almost forgot that today is our 6 year anniversary!  Really, I almost did forget.  Almost.  I had to dig into the pre-digital photo albums for some cutsie pictures of us.  I can hardly remember a time without the digital camera....I can hardly remember what it was like to not be married.  Time sho' does fly when you're having fun.  I used to wonder how long it would take for me to really feel married.   After we bought our first house?  No....not then.  After our little Max was born?  Not even then, yet.  But today, it really just feels like a done-deal.  So I'll say that six years is the magic number.  Now it's official.  (Just in time for the seven year itch...ha ah!)   And, boy do I ever love this guy.  But I won't waste my gushiness on the blog.  Mike doesn't really read it, so I'd just be boring everyone else.  Don't get me wrong, Mike is totally supportive of everything I do, and I'm sure he pops in every now and then.  But,  it just ain't his thing.  I can't blame him.  If I were a dude, a crafty, ladies blog would probably be the last place on earth I'd wanna hang out.  Mostly he teases me about it: "Why don't you go write on your BLOG...ha ha!  You have a BLOG, you're such a dork!"  and I scream, "No I don't, I do not have a BLOG!  It's not like that....it's more like a journal, and those people are my FRIENDS, they understand me.... and.....oh, just leave me alone!"   But, the tides are shifting, and Mike has already started working on his own etsy site for HIS handmade things.  One day, I'll walk in on him blogging too, it's only a matter of time.  And then, my friends, there will be some serious teasing to be had.  I can hardly wait.....

Guest Photographer, Max Krueger

I love that he caught me doing some serious multi-tasking:  weeding the garden, talking with my mum on the phone (thinking about shirring.....)

It's Friday everybody!!! Hooray!  Happy Mother's Day, and have a fabulous weekend!!!

Monday Already?

My weekends are at their best when I can be around my little brother and sister.  They came down from Richmond for a visit, and it was just so nice to see them.  There was pink popcorn, America's Next Top Model Marathon, Anna's Pizza, Poquoson thrifting and even a bit of paper crafting.

These pictures are pretty blurry...but the point is....we are totally OUT of Mod Podge.  We were embellishing the little Target note pads I mentioned a while ago.  I need to go buy some more....hope they still have some. 

I also wanted to dress up my almost-free business cards I ordered from Office Depot.  I tea stained some of them, and dyed a few pink and green.  I was happy how they turned out, but I do like the tea ones the best.  I'm using them as tags for my products, and I also added some supplies that I got from Cerri's sweet little  etsy shop.  I just LOVE the vintage wallpapers and used them up almost immediately!  And of course, the ubiquitous red and white bakers twine.....I'm going to break down and just buy a giant cone of it.  BUT, maybe in blue and white instead...I can't decide.   I found it in brown and white, but only in small amounts that are very $$$.  If anyone sees the brown and white at wholesale prices PLEASE give me a holler!!!

I was really pleased with how those tags turned out.  Then I remembered that I should probably be MAKING things for the tags to go on first.  Oh well.

I also wanted to mention that I got my postcards I ordered from Vista Print.  Several of you guys were so nice to recommend them, and I tried one of their "free" deals for the promotional postcards.  I was definitely happy with how they turned out.

I only had to pay shipping, and that was just under $10 for 100 cards.   They are glossy and good quality for promotional stuff.  I don't think they'd be quite thick enough for actual postcard prints of artwork though.  But, I just LOVE a good deal!  I plan on giving Overnight Prints a try for this other postcard project I'm working on.  They offer the oh-so-lovely rounded corner postcards that I really like!  And, while I'm on the "supplies subject", I wanted to mention another great place for shipping boxes and bubble mailers called Packaging Price.  They have some of the cheapest prices I've seen.  I have not ordered from them yet, so I can't vouch for the quality...but I will keep ya posted...

Also, I had such a great time at the Crafty Potluck for the up-and-coming Seven Cities Craft Mafia  (a local chapter of the Craft Mafia that started in Texas.)  Such a great group of gals, and I'm really excited to be a part of this group and watch it grow!  I found out about it through Amber, another local crafty gal.  She did a lovely post about the pot luck with pictures and everything, if you 'd like to take a look.   I really look froward to getting to know these great artist more and collaborating for shows and projects and things!  I'm so excited! I also plan to post pictures of some other paper crafts I've been working on later today.  (Just a soon as the sun comes out, so I can get a decent picture!)  Hope everyone had a good weekend! 

In which I attempt to embarrass my siblings

So last year my brother, sister and I found a wig and decided to try and duplicate the Amelie-cracking-creme brulee look.  I have shared the one of my brother before (and I decided it deserved a second showing) but I didn't show the ones of Kip and I. 

Frighteneing, isn't it?  Why my brother is in color, I don't know...why we even DID this, I'm not sure...but I miss our impromptu photo shoots. Look how pretty my sister is!

....even with her shaved eyebrow half-grown in.  Don't ask, the story isn't that interesting

Do I always make this face when my father is lecturing me?  (Sorry dad.)

I like this picture of my sis and me....not because we look all that great (hello, gums!) but it reminds me of that day.  We drove to the middle of nowhere to find a pumpkin patch that was SO LAME.  We ended up playing on a giant dirt pile instead.  It was sorta fun.  Max enjoyed it.

This is an old pic of my brother and sister pretending to be gargoyles.  I took it during my mandatory "high-school-photography-phase".  I think almost everyone goes through it. 

My brother is cute.  He looks a bit "social-anxiety-disorder" in this picture, though.  Maybe I'm reading to much into it.  Maybe that suit was just a little too snug...

Enough embarrassment for today.