Why not Wednesday?

Yes, I realize it is Wednesday. I also realize that I almost never post mid-week but a few things prompted some thoughts today.

Received an "O" Mission calendar inspiration email today. Normally, I read and delete but today I felt the spark of relevance.

The greatest joy of life is to accomplish. It is the getting, not the having. It is the giving, not the keeping.
—Frederick Banting

Received this in the mail today.


The "Golden Rule" at it again.




Also received this today....remember my quest for vintage teacups?

The Curly Girl Design calendar graced my front step this weekend,too. (I really love this.)

June happens to be my favorite.

One more random quote:

As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
—Nelson Mandela

So, change a few things, let your light shine, accomplish some and give.

Joie de Vivre..

It's been snowing here in the upper Midwest.

("Go figure."those of you might say who think it's arctic here all the time.")

It's a grey, grey day-good for catching up. If you know me, I'm always trying to beat myself at this little game.

I made the fortunate (yes, fortunate) mistake of bringing Urban Market samples to my day job. Received a few orders so I spent Saturday in my individually owned sweatshop whipping up these beauties. I can't wait to package them up and give them a good home. Someone might actually like their Christmas gifts this year.

I finished these up on Saturday. (Yes, my weekends have been reduced to sewing and playing taxi. What happened?)

So, today. No time like the present to organize the studio. There is nothing like a clean slate to get the juices flowing again. Must get manufacturing for debut #2...

So hung up my tape measures (yes, plural...I bought another since I couldn't find the original.)

Seems that little miss was measuring to confirm her arguments that a trip to Victoria's Secret is an immediate necessity in the very near future.

Needless to say, I found the original buried under a week's worth of dirty laundry. (Again, not a surprise, in this house.)

I realized today that "fabric whore" might be a term I can assimilate to. A little harsh, yes, but I do make "Fruity Bitch" aprons. I believe we've discussed the dichotomy of my personality in previous posts-so I apologize to any new readers.

So, after seeing my little room take shape into something now better described as neat and tidy, I looked to my work table (which as of 3 minutes ago, I could once again see the top). Behold, my inspiration board that I've just recently started to use.

On my weekly "Micheal's" excursion..I picked up the "Twinkle Type" that I've been wanting and the angels of paper sounded their horns of approval. My empty "Inspiration Board" glared at me and subliminally screamed, "Accessorize, Accessorize, Accessorize!"

Ta-Dah................................................

Joie de vivre-

Joie de vivre (from the French joie, "joy"; de, "of"; vivre, "to live, living"; "the joy of living") is a term sometimes imported into English to express a cheerful enjoyment of life; an exultation of spirit. Joie de vivre, as one scholar has written,
"can be a joy of conversation, joy of eating, joy of anything one might do… And joie de vivre may be seen as a joy of everything, a comprehensive joy, a philosophy of life, a Weltanschauung. Robert's Dictionnaire says joie is sentiment exaltant ressenti par toute la conscience, that is, involves one's whole being."[1]

Ok, so forget the snow-this too shall pass. Muster up all the "joie de vivre" you can find, take a deep breath, and organize your life.

Inspiration..

Spent today finishing a custom apron order-from a husband to his wife-(yikes!). Not sure how a wife will feel being given an apron for her birthday. But, if someone gave me one that is as cute as this one, I might be inclined to forgive.

Spent the rest of the weekend tending to family matters. (Yuck, I never want to get old.) Had a blast playing Bingo (Seriously,it was fun but I never got to yell that 5 letter word.)

Visited with my in-laws. My mother-in-law and I are, for lack of a better word; "polar opposites"-Country Mouse and City Mouse but we've learned to love each other. She,the country mouse, with her pine trees and oak decor is a subscriber to Country Living Magazine. I was flipping through one of the issues and gasped--"I love this magazine"...Who knew? We have something else in common.

The above is a "handmade" project from the magazine. I want to make one so bad!! Added vintage teacups to my thrifting list-now to just find the time.

It was a perfect day for the pumpkin patch that we never got to-next weekend. No lesson today-living instead of learning, I guess.

Random Peeves

I’m sick of the presidential races, my 401K is losing by double digits, the earth’s ozone layer is deteriorating and now Big Foot is endangered vs. mythical, and what’s my problem? I’m not doing much to solve the world’s problems. Bigger fish to fry, you say?


Random Thoughts of Peevishness..

-As a subscriber, a magazine should appear in my mailbox BEFORE it appears on a newsstand shelf.

-When purchasing online and some sort of “feedback” is optional, please leave some. Think of it as an alternative “Thank You” card.

-You go to bed early, exhausted with a headache. You’re out, the TV is left on. Three hours after your “declaration of illness”, your wife silently slips into bed and WOW! you’ve miraculously recovered enough to no longer be tired. Seriously?

-Please put things back where you found them. If you do not, then do not roll your eyes when I remind you for the millionth time AND…..the leopard scissors,yeah, FABRIC ONLY!

-How many ways can you mix ground hamburger, a Campbell’s cream based soup, and corn? I’m banning “Hotdish” from my house.

-I have to go here and I apologize in advance but really; honest feedback is a gift. Painful? Yes. Life changing? Potentially.
If you have, or have had, this hairstyle, at one time either: a.) You deemed yourself hip enough to pull it off or B.) Your hairdresser talked you into it.


(P.S I had it too, courtesy of Option A. and No, this is not a photo of anyone we know. )

Ladies, “Roadrunner Hair” is OVER.

“Roadrunner Hair” (I cannot take credit for the label) is this hairstyle phenomenon that looks as if you’ve been running at mach one with a bottle of hairspray clipped where your ipod should be. You’ve taken off, un-holstered the Aqua Net, and spritzed like hell to get your hair to stand up on end-only in the back.

This crusty hair mimics porcupine tines and emits subliminal messages to others that yes, little old you, has the potential to poke out a few eyes.

I am not a hairdresser (although at 9, I yearned to be one) and am, myself, growing out the “Posh Spice” bob. I have also been known to get the “cheap shampoo” lecture from my own hair guru.

I do know, however, that there is a scant percentage of women that can pull off spiked hair-in any form.

Those that can:
-Women with gray hair. The “spunkier”, the better. If your hair has grayed, you’ve earned it.
-Those that have artist or stylist anywhere on their resume.
-Those who can deal with a mess. Spiked hair is meant to be askew. If you fold your underwear, probably not a style for you.
-Those that can be stylish in both hair AND dress. If your wardrobe consists of sweats in every color and oversized sweatshirts, forget it.


This would mean that if you’ve none of the credentials listed above, stop the insanity.

Stop the roadrunner-it’s the same thing as 90’s bangs, 80’s feathers—it’s in the past. You’ve perfected it already-Brava! Now in 2030, you can help your grandchildren recreate the style for “Retro Day”.

Bewitching Irony

The irony here is that I make aprons, but I can't stand cooking.

These sweets, however, I did make but....they are very unedible. That's right, made from Crayola's sweet little invention--Model Magic.

Thought they'd make cute Christmas ornaments among other things.

Do you ever watch Ace of Cakes on the Food Network-I am addicted. Among all the jobs that sound appealing, this one too, is right up my alley. I am not quite ready to work with fondant or actually have to bake cakes all day, but....

Since I was the first maternal grandchild-the legacy my grandma began included making sure that I was never deprived of anything that fell into these categories; pink, frilly, or lace. I hated anything to do with these words as I entered the acid washed jeans phase of my life. But now, something about pink (and in this case, frilly) intrigues me.

The irony here is, I never wanted to be a ballerina AND I am probably one of the klutziest people you'd ever meet. My dad always used to day, "You're like a bull in a china shop."

What we resist, persists-I guess. So my lack of grace, has taken me down the "tutu" path.

My ungrace has taken my hand and said, "Honor the inner prima ballerina." Now I may look a little odd traipsing around town in an adult tutu (especially since I'd probably trip at least once.) But the little girls (or boys) of this world, can twirl and dance in my little creations.

(Urban Market plug-If you'd like one, shoot me an email..$15.00)

The irony here is that the post begins with pink and frou-frou and ends with skulls and witches.

October equals 2 things in my head; our wedding anniversary and Halloween (which also happens to be my favorite holiday).. I took the "Handmade Pledge" so for me, it applies to buying holiday decorations.

I saw the word "Tussie Mussie" on Etsy the other day so I googled-"“Tussie-mussie” is a quaint, endearing term from the early 1400s for small, round bouquets of herbs and flowers with ­symbolic meanings."

I found a tutorial for the cone and "witched" it up a bit for Halloween. I've been hoarding 2 Halloween Paula's Kit Club kits and finally used some of it-she picks out some great stuff!

So the final irony today is that I am both witchy and foofy-black tutu anyone?