Boooo!!!

It is that time of the year.  Time to gear up and get ready for the big holiday rush time.  Each year to start off the rush is the fleece ghost poncho.  I love this and do love making it.  It is my highest seller on etsy and one of the reasons I keep my etsy store open...LOL.

Finally motavated! For now......

Well....here we are almost a month later, one left rotator cuff tear, back spasms and attention to some other parts of the apartment.  I finally walked into my studio/office/guest room with the determination of David ready to slay Goliath!  I have a show in a week and I am no where ready for it so its time to get back to work.  Four hours later this is what we have.

I have found a great site to make collages and love them!

Yes is was still a mess but I love the outcome!  I love when I envision something and it actually works!

Now Day 2.  Nothing to really move furniture wise but allot to do still.  Several hours and here we are.

The futon still needs help but look how much better my work area looks and how cute my collage is.  LOL!  I feel ready to work and now have the space.

Stuck!

I am stuck!  I mean like standing in honey.  Not for real.  That stuff is to expensive to spill!!!  For a couple of months now Jason and I have been sleeping in my studio while our master bedroom was a store house for boxes.  Finally in one huge push and three days of unpacking and not much else we were able to get our bedroom somewhat set up and move in.  With that being said the futon is back against the wall and I am ready to get to work.

Yea about that.  I walk into my studio/office/guest room and this is what greets me. 

Why am I sitting here blogging about this nightmare?  Why am I in the dining room and not doing something about it?  For one the dining room is a bit less cluttered.  And for two this is my way of getting me motivated.  I thought if I could start with the horror that is the beginning and then update as I go it would keep me motivated. 

Anyone have a nightmare like this?

Camera Straps, Pillow Covers and Luggage Tags. Is this a vacation?

Today was a busy day here in Washington.  Yes, Washington!  Puyallup, Washington to be exact.  Isabella and I are once again spending three glorious weeks with The Keaton's, or as Isabella calls them Uncle Mike and Aunt Michelle.

As always Michelle has a project for me.  Most people would not be happy if they put their business on vacation and then sat behind a sewing machine but I am not most people.  Shush you!!  Yes you!! As I was saying, Michelle had a project for me.  She has a very heavy camera and needed a cover for it and something to hold her lens cap also.  Sooooooo google camera strap covers I go and here is what I made. 

We choose minky for the back fabric so it would be more comfortable.  It was my first time sewing on minky and it was slippery and the dots in the fabric weren't very nice to me.  But I am please with the finished product and think I have figured out some of the mistakes.  I know a photog friend that I adore that might just need one of these.  As always a huge shout out to Tiffany Bird of Simply Modern Mom for her tut.  You can get it here.

The next project was making pillow covers for a updated game room.  In the past this room has been patriotic but since Madison is a fan of zebra and her practice dance floor is here Michelle choose to do a Zebra print with some hot pink accents.  Michelle choose a zebra fleece with hot pink hearts and peace signs.  I know fleece would not the be the traditional fabric for pillow covers but oh it is soooo soft.  I haven't gotten a pix of them yet.  They are being used at the moment in another room.

Finally a little something for me.  I meant to do this before I left but time got away from me.  I needed some luggage tags.  Printables here we come!!  I found these really cute ones from Amy Locurto at Living Locurto and printed them out, put my name and phone number on the back and then laminated them.  I just need to punch a hole in them and put them on my luggage.  I did two sets, one for the outside of the luggage so I can see which black suitcase is mine and one for the inside cause I once heard that the reason luggage gets lost is the outside tag gets ripped off and there is nothing inside to tell who the person is.  Nice run on sentence!  Want them....tough they are not yours as the tag says!  Oh wait they technically are not mine either so here you go... luggage tags

This more than likely will be the last of my vacation projects since tomorrow we go see the Mariners play baseball and then back to the Vegas heat the next day.

Kitchen Labels

This is how my days have been lately.  Open box, unwrap each item, roll my eyes at something, put packing paper back in box, take box to patio for someone to pick up, now figure out what to do with what I just unpacked.  UGH! 

Right now I am unpacking the kitchen.  I thought I could get away with just shoving stuff in the cabinets and deal with it later but my CDO will not allow that!  Sooo lets organize a bit.  I am transfering all the baking items into similar containers, no more random containers.  Of course I HAVE to label them so I know what is in each. Usually I would get out of my trusty label maker, but OH WAIT!!  Printables!!! So off to the laptop I run to look thru the hundreds of printables I have downloaded and TADA!  Print, cut out and stick.  What do you think?

I have blank ones too.  Those will have to wait till I get a white pen.

If you like these you can find them here. 

Post-it Cra Cra!!

I love Post-its!!!  You can stick them to any surface and they make them is such cute styles and colors these days.  I love finding them in the Dollar Tree.  The other day while lost in the land of printables I found someone who shared my love, Mayi Carles from heartmade.    On her site I found this great way to organize my notes and to do list. 

Right now it is hanging on the mirrored sliding door from the closet in my studio/office.  Like a post it I am sure I will move it.  I love that I can move the notes around as my crazy life deems necessary.

Do you like the posts its?  Got them from her site too!

All you do is down load the template and print it then attach blank postits to the sheet and print it again.  Cute huh?

Find the daily Post-It prioritizer here and the Post-It here.  Check out her whole blog.  It is full of amazing things.

Missing my Maggie

Recently I responded to a request to make a pillow for someone.  Their very loved dog had passed and her little boy was having a tough time and she wanted a pillow made with her picture on it.  I took on the project.  I purchased a product new to me, June Taylor's Sew-In Computer Printer Fabric, and was excited to work with it.  My photo placement and editing skills need some help but I think I did okay.  Once I started the project tho I felt a sense of sadness come over me.  It wasn't till I was at the end did I finally realize that I had not fully grieved for Maggie.  Maggie was my loved Cocker Spaniel.  She was born in South Carolina and was purchased by my good friend Michelle and her husband Mike for Mike's mother shortly before thier move to Arizon.  I had an input of her name and felt she needed to have a Southern name so her Southern heritage would always be with her.  Lucky for me it didn't work out for Maggie and Mike's mom and after I moved to Las Vegas she became mine.  Maggie was loved by me, the boys, Jason and Isabella.  Sadly old age took their toll on her and due to many health issues we made the decision to set her free of her pain.  During this time we were going thru the turmoil of Jason's separation from the Air Force and I have never been able to sit and grieve.  Isabella still asks me why Maggie has to live with the angels and has even asked if the angels will give her back.  Many times I have comforted her but never have taken the time to grieve.  Tonight I am going to finally have my time and grieve for my Maggie and when I finally get the boxes unpacked and find her collar I will put it in a shadow box so she is always in our home.  I love and miss you Maggie!

Discovering the World of Printables

For over a year I have been resisting Pintrest.  I knew that if I got started I would spend hours and hours pinning things and never get anything done.  Sadly I have fallen into something worse.  Printables!!!  I don't remember how or exactly when.  But Easter did me in.  I found some cute printables for Isabella to help me out with and hand out to her home-school group.

Today I started writing out my usual to do list and thought there much be a cuter one in the printable world.  So off to google I went and 4 hours later I narrow it down and downloaded the "perfect" one and alot more for the next holiday, party, get together or whatever caught my eye.  So here is my list and now a time to go!!

.  Click here for the ToDo list

Saying Goodbye To Our Slide Puzzle Apartment

Much has happened since last I blogged.  Jason and I have had to face allot of challenges these last few months.  We have faced unemployment, food stamps, a new job and most of all dealing with all the emotions from his being kicked out of the Air Force and his hiding it from me.  Its been a long road but I feel we are finally better as a couple. 

One of our biggest changes was moving into a apartment.  We were asked to move out of our friends house we had moved to.  I can never ever thank that friend enough for being our safe haven for a time.  The rest is history and best left to history.  July 9th we moved into a small one bedroom apartment in a building called Renaissance Apartment.  This building is run by H.E.L.P. USA and its goal is to help at risk Vets.  This place is our stepping stone in our lives as Vets.  It is here we have breathed a air of relief as we rebuilt our marriage and family.  Here we learned to live on alot less.  Not only monetarily but with less physical items.  Here we learned not to be ashamed of what our life has become.  Here we learned who our friends were and who we were.  But with all things it is now time to move on.  The dogs have been living with our wonderful friends Alyana and Derric Wilson since dogs are not allowed.  We are moving to a apartment building that once I would not have been caught dead in.  LOL!  I think if anything this whole experience has taught me to be flexible and life will turn on a dime and not always in the way you thought it would. 

Goodbye tiny apartment!!!  You will be missed!!!