I'm an engineer with an irresistable drive to be crafty... knitting, sewing, papercraft, photography, jewelry-making, you name it, I've probably tried it! - Email Me -
The street is flooded so I'm homebound until this rain lets up. Our drainage is pretty good so hopefully things will calm down once this storm passes!
Can you tell in this picture that the cul-de-sac is flooded?
Our backyard is really full too but nothing is threatening the house yet. The dog has been running from the front door to the back door barking at the thunder for about two hours. My nerves are a little frayed! I'm trying to make the best of it by getting in some embroidery, a nice activity for a stormy day. Maybe I'll go make some tea...
I work in a smaller, industry town that apparently didn't have a rush on the Orla Kiely section at Target. I just remembered to check it out yesterday and they had a large selection of mugs and dishes, plus some of the covered crates, laundry bags, and hanging shelves.
Of course, what I really wanted were the dishtowels so I could copy Beki's awesome Orla bag. No luck. I did pick up this orange mug but controlled myself for any other impulse purchases.
I started my day by giving up on a quilt, admitting it was a big *fail* for the first time in my short quilt-making history. Luckily the day improved steadily from there, including helping set up for a baby shower tomorrow (see above standby tissue pom poms), having a nice lunch with my hubby, getting a pedicure, and having my family over for fajitas and black bean soup and tres leches. I hope you all had an equally lovely Valentine's Day!
Sorry I've been quiet. We had a great 4th, then a quiet Saturday.
Sunday was one year since we lost my dad. I can't believe it's been a year. Life goes on, even if we don't feel like it should. I miss him.
I'm in class in the city this week, which means early mornings, long days, and a long commute. Thanks for being patient while I'm quiet for a little while!
I hate a post without pictures so I thought I'd share the results of my sister's play-doh party! Wait, I mean fondant. We had so much fun a couple weekends ago learning about fondant, we decided it was like grown-up play-doh.
52 Nights Update - Night 19 - Super productive last night but not on crafting - worked to make room for a piece of furniture my sis is passing on (she's moving back to Virginia, I'm so sad!), went for a run, made dinner, did chores. It was a great night! Now it's way past my bedtime for how early I have to get up! Back soon.
We made progress on the floor. (Well, the boys did, I cheered them on.)
I made another batch of the caramel shortbread - I put a batch in the Relay for Life auction at work and the lady called to remind me I owed her!
Is it bad to go to my book club meeting when I haven't finished the book? Turns out in this case it was a good thing, since now I'm motivated to finish - seems like there's a lot of interesting events I haven't gotten to yet!
And among other chores and errands I got the nook ready to go - hopefully paint will go up tomorrow, thanks to no tech night!
Thanks to Beki for the headsup, there's a new paysite in town! If you sign up for Revolution Money Exchange (RME) before the end of the day today, May 15, you'll get $25 free deposited into your account. RME is like Paypal, but with no fees. Once you have an account you can spend your money online, or transfer it into your checking account. Here is a list of some retailers accepting it.
If you click the button above, I'll get $10 deposited into my account, too! What are you waiting for??
I really love how there are so many people sharing cool things they find online. I get an email regularly from Photojojo with cool photography gadgets, and I really love this latest toy from Animoto.
You just upload your pictures, from a photo site (like flickr) or your computer, and pick your music, and it makes a video for you. No more slideshows! 30 second clips are free, or you can get unlimited for a few bucks. Just thought I'd pass it on to anyone else looking for a neat alternative way to share pictures!
At my mom's house the other day she pulled out this box.
First, it's labeled in my dad's handwriting, which automatically makes it a treasure. I never realized how precious some things would become. Of course, what's inside is pretty great, too:
It's totally full of antique lace and trims. I started to spread it all out for a photo, but there is just too much!
I have been told to actually put this to use so it doesn't waste away in a box, and I do have a couple ideas for it, but it's going to be so hard to cut it up!! Probably my favorite item in the whole amazing collection is this vintage onyx trim:
As much as I really want to re-purpose it into jewelry, it's going to take a very special idea to convince me to break those threads.
What a treasure! I need to make at least something from it right away - my mom's birthday is coming up in October, after all!
It's so nice to have a weekend at home. We started off the day with an early soccer game - I can say with authority that the humidity is back here in Houston. Also, I can demonstrate the downside of playing co-ed soccer - having boys kick you in the shins!
Or, why I don't wear skirts during soccer season...
I barely got home and showered when my best friend from high school stopped by for lunch. I don't keep in touch with too many people from high school, but no matter how long we go without talking, Lauren and I always fall back into one of those easy, forever friendships.
I baked a batch of cookies while we chatted so I could send some home to her family. This is my current favorite cookie recipe, here at Julie's.
Now, when I can tear myself away from the computer (pictures to edit! blogs to check! emails to write!) I'm going to sit myself down at my sewing machine and finally finish that baby quilt.
I think some hand-binding with a good movie is my plan for tonight...
Now that my sewing board is on the wall, I'm going to try to keep my sewing space neat. Here is how it looks right now:
Do you think I can keep it that nice once I get to work on a project? Not likely! At least it will be easier to pick up as I get things in my room sorted out.
I also hung a few things up that have been sitting in a pile waiting for frames. They still don't have frames, but I think having them up at all is better than wasting away in a pile!
A couple bright flower cards, a painting by little dear that really needs a frame soon, and four of my favorite cards by port2port.
At least looking from this angle my room is looking better!
I've been hearing all over blogland that people haven't been able to find the Tord Boontje stuff at Target, that it's all sold out. So imagine my surprise when I stopped by to fill some prescriptions (turns out the doctor thinks I'm sick, too!) I saw a whole endcap full of the stuff. Garlands, paper plates, cups, napkins, food packaging... A huge selection! I limited myself to these:
Awesome laser cut garlands.
I'm afraid to open them! I'm planning on sending off one set as a thank you, but I can't make myself pick which to give away... I love them both!
Well, I've been quite silent lately. It's not that I haven't been crafting... Work has been busy, and I just have been too tired to make that step from crafting to posting. In fact, I made my mother-in-law a necklace to hold her glasses (very cool, with a ring to put her glasses through) and didn't even take a picture! I did take a picture of the card I made for her...
I truly only made this card because everything was so easy to get out and put away again. More praises for my craft room!
Another neat thing... I'm a little late posting this, but I was featured on a cool blog, ThisNext. Thanks for the mention!
Believe it or not, we had a white Christmas here in Houston! It is so hard to imagine. It didn't actually snow on Christmas day, but it snowed a lot Christmas Eve, and it was all still on the ground when we woke up Christmas morning. It was probably a once in a lifetime experience, and it cheered up Peter since he was wishing we had gone to San Antonio with the rest of his family... So here are some pictures I took:
Here is how our backyard looked. It was fun to get the dog to run around in the snow (he didn't really know what to make of it). Baxter wouldn't walk on the patio because the melted snow from earlier had frozen and he didn't like the ice on his paws.
This picture totally doesn't capture our bushes, but I had to try - the Christmas lights were shining through the snow on the leaves, and it was really beautiful.
Peter's car had been sitting out all night, so it gives a good idea of how much snow was sticking.
Finally, I took a picture of our house Christmas morning. I will never forget this Christmas! A white Christmas in Houston... I still can't believe it.
