artsy-crafty babe

just dreaming

 
Now that it is Thursday already and I haven't done a thing other than the painting night, I realize that my craft to-do list was only a dream.  And with the kids' soccer games this weekend, on both Saturday and Sunday, it looks like I won't be getting much done then either.  Dang!  There's nothing scheduled tonight and the house is fairly picked up, so maybe, just maybe I can do some work on that quilt.

Speaking of quilts, I'm still behind on my 12 square quilt squares (what's new?), which officially ended in September.  I definitely need to move that one up on the priority list.  Some squares have started rolling in from the PTQB, which is exciting.  I love what those girls have come up with.  I have a feeling that a certain 8 yr old will take this quilt over once it is made.  It is right up her alley.

This really does deserve a post on its own, but that little Ava of mine is something!  She acts all sweet, but underneath she's a little spitfire.  All my kids have done some stupid stuff, but she seems to do it 10x's worse. 

Just this week she dumped an entire bottle of fingernail polish in the sink - HOT pink.  The nail polish was out of her reach, but she figured out a way to get to it.  The entire sink is now HOT pink.  I  haven't taken the time to kill some brain cells cleaning that stuff off.  On Monday afternoon she and Alex were innocently coloring on my bed, but then Ava decided to color ON my bed - the blanket, the sheets, and my coverlet, all of which I just washed on Saturday.  It will wash out, but I'd like to have clean bedding for at least a few days.  Is that too much to ask?  While she was at it, she also colored all over the back of my bedroom door with a crayon. 

I was hoping that was it, but then yesterday I noticed something funny about Oreo, our cat.  Is his fur pink?  Why yes, it was pink, and not just a little bit.  What the???  SOMEBODY colored the cat.  I asked the kids and they all denied it.  Then I questioned Ava some more.  I told her that she wouldn't be in trouble, I just wanted to know how she did it.  She answered me "Oreo was sleeping on Alex's bed, so I colored him".  ***this photo was from today, so he's had a few days to clean it off.  his paw was the only thing we could keep still enough to photograph, taking a picture of a cat is really hard! 

If she's quiet and you ask her what she's doing, she'll answer "anything, mama".  Oh, how right she is!  That girl, what in the world am I going to do with her???

painting is fun

I really do like to paint, even if I'm not in love with what I'm painting.  Last night was fun, but I already knew it would be.  How could a bunch of friends doing something creative not be fun?  I ended up liking my painting more than I thought.  I didn't stray too much, but I wasn't afraid to add highlights here and there.  I only wish that I had lightened my purple a little bit because I think it's too dark.   At first Ava was scared of it, I think.  Those branches are kind of creepy, aren't they?   But after Alex told me that it was pretty, she agreed. 

There was a group of young girls sitting next to me at the studio.  Their conversations were interesting...at one point they were talking about so-and-so being sooo old, to which one replied "31..32?"  The other answered "no, he's like 37".  I had a hard time not rolling my eyes at that, well, I probably did, but I was concentrating on my painting.  Before hearing that I was feeling pretty good about the whole foods cashier carding me for my bottle of wine!!

Well, I guess I am getting old because my midweek night out wiped me out.  Maybe I ate something bad or picked up a bug, but I felt like I was hit by a truck this morning.  Even the kids thought I didn't look so good.  After they left for school I went back to bed and didn't get up until after 1 pm!  Whoa, that's what I get for a crazy night out at the painting studio (I was out until a whopping 9 pm).  Dang, this sucks!

I hope all that rest doesn't keep me up until all hours of the night, but if it does, I'm sue I can find something to do with my time :-)

on the agenda

Well, friends, I've decided that this is going to be a crafty week.  Last week I proved to myself that I can keep the house in order if I do a little bit each day, so this week I'm adding some craft time to the mix (good idea in theory).  This will involve putting my knitting down (my usual week night craft), but I'm at a boring point on this particular knit, so I could use the break (so what if I just took a break to make a skirt!). 

 

The Craft Hope deadline is quickly approaching, so I need to get busy on that.  I made the quilt top this weekend, so now it needs to be quilted and bound.  I like how this one is coming together, even though I'm not using my favorite fabrics - that's always a pleasant surprise.  Because I want this finished in time, I'm going with a simple solid back.  This is my #1 priority this week.

Tomorrow night I have another painting event at Corks-n-Canvas.  This time I plan to go out on my own a little.  Maybe.  We'll see how brave I am once I have a glass of wine or two.  I'm not super in love with the scheduled painting, but I'm looking forward to hanging out with the girls for a few hours.  Even if I do stick to the plan, I figure the painting will look cute in the girls room with all that purple.

I still have my bloomers skirt on the brain and would love another one.  I have my fabric and stencil picked out for my second version (bluish purple & aqua), but I'd like to try something different first.  I'm not exactly sure yet what I want to do, but it will involve heather gray jersey.  

 
For some reason, I have way more cotton jersey in my stash than I remembered (not all that pictured above is cotton jersey, but there is a good bit of it).  I may end up with a plain solid skirt, but that's okay.  It will still be fun having an unexpected colorful under layer.  The comfort of my first version makes me want to make more.

If that isn't enough, I have a back cardigan that needs refashioning and I'm also thinking that I need a new bag...

Okay, reading back over this, I realize that this is only a wish list.  I know the painting will get done because that's a scheduled set thing.  If I get that quilt finished and in the mail next Monday, I'll call it a success.  My reality is that I'll be doing good to keep up with the house and get the laundry done!  It's much more fun to dream and plan, isn't it?

shop talk

It took much longer than anticipated, but I finally found some time to update my shop.  You'll find a mix of new and *gently used* bags.  Some of you may be disappointed that the appliqued Phoebe didn't make it there, but don't worry, there are more in the works.  They will be similar to the original, but a little different - no two will be exactly the same. 

 

When I was photographing this last batch of bags I made an interesting discovery - my Ava Rose tote is reversible.  How fun is that?  I can't believe that I didn't realize that.  Next time I make one, I'll be sure to add a pocket to both the inside and the outside to increase the usability.

In other news, I'm over here suffering from a candy hangover.  Ugh.  I'm not used to eating that stuff - I think my body went into sugar shock.  After drinking lots of water I'm starting to feel a little bit better, well enough to retrieved the fabric for my next bloomers skirt from my sewing room.  I don't think I'll start on it just now, but it's near by if I feel like it.  Oh, I wore the skirt yesterday and totally loved it.  I went with a long sleeve white tee and a denim jacket -it was just perfect.  I can see lots of possibilities with this skirt, thanks for all your suggestions.

my bloomers skirt

Yay!  It's finished!  I absolutely LOVE this skirt.  The two layers of jersey knit make it so, so comfortable and the many, many hours I spent on it make me so very proud.  Speaking of hours, yes, it took me many hours to complete.  I wasn't really keeping track, but I'd guess that it took me at least 12 hours, most probably more.

I was a woman possessed.  I worked on it at least a few hours a day.  To be honest, I was a little addicted.  I think this sort of project is one to be savored, but I devoured it.  I'll take my time on the next one.

Never in a million years did I think that I'd ever wear something sewed entirely by hand.  Never.  But you know what?  You can feel the effort that went into this.  I feel like this skirt has a soul.  Kind of kooky, huh?

When I started this skirt, I had it in my mind that I'd only do reverse applique along the bottom of the skirt, so that's what I did.  When I got it all stitched, cut, and sewed two two panels together, I didn't like it.  It wasn't enough.  So, I pulled the stencil back out and traced more leaves on the entire panel, but more sparse.  I also whacked 2" off the top because it looked too long to me.  I love how this turned out.

I must confess, I machine stitched the elastic to the waist.  I didn't have 1" fold over elastic and didn't want to order some when I already had plenty of 1/2" fold over elastic on hand.  The half inch wasn't wide enough to bind the top edge, so I sewed it flat to the inside of the waist.  I tried to sew a zig-zag stitch by hand, but I just couldn't get it.  I ended up with a tangled mess of thread.  The waist of my skirt isn't too pretty, but who's gonna see that?

Now comes the big question - what am I going to wear this with?  I don't want to be all matchy-matchy.  Black is a safe choice, but I want something more interesting.  I picture this with a t-shirt and a cardigan with maybe a scarf?  Or maybe a turtleneck with a belt?  I don't know.  I don't want to look like a box of crayolas, so maybe I will stick with black.  Either way, a shopping trip is definitely in order.