~She told me so ~

So ... you may have noticed (if you actually care and you may or may not ... care) that there has been a distinct lack of posts about sewing. Or anything else that is interesting. Truth be told I sort of packed everything up when I had my sewing room painted over a month ago (do you miss that pink and green stencil from the early 90's?) and I haven't had the heart or the gumption to find everything I need. Or to mess it up.

Or to sew.

But I did have this one project on my to-do list that was mentioned here. It involves miles of sewing straight satin stitched lines on a bedskirt.

Mi-les.

When I first blogged about this project, my oldest daughter warned me that it would be the most boring project ever.

E-ver.

And boy, was she right. Of course this is the girl who would not be deterred by such a project, and in fact when faced with one ... taught her Bernina to Sew. By. Itself.

The proof is here. See for yourself.

And I don't know which is worse ... the fact that she can so honestly tell me "I told you so" or that I never could find my seam ripper and had to resort to using my embroidery scissors instead.

Huuummmph. I should have just left well enough alone. That room was so dang clean before I started messing with it.

Please tell me it will be worth it.

Get Crafty this Weekend!

So ... if you are from the Bay Area, or are in the Bay Area this weekend or will pick up and move to the Bay Area today*, just because I told you to ... then you need to head on down to the Renegade Craft Fair and take a gander at all the wonderful offerings, soak up some creative vibes and drop some pocket change** so you can come home with a smile on your face.

While you are there, make sure (seriously, make absolutely sure) to stop by (and purchase from) Riley Noehren's booth. She does wonderful screen printing and makes them into fabulous totes, purses and ... prints.

The fact that I gave birth to her*** is not influencing my comments at all, believe me. Her work is just so splendid that I need to point you in the right direction.

So ... get going all ready. Make those plans, put on those comfortable shoes ... say "hi" to my baby girl for me ... will you?

*if you are actually moving, I really hope you have already started packing
** it would be best to have big pockets
*** Riley Noehren is actually not her real name, so you are actually not any closer to discovering my true identity ...

Clean up on aisle one ...

So ... on Saturday ... when I had many, many better things to do ... I played with my fabric. I didn't sew with it, mind you ... I just played with it. I really should have taken some 'before' pictures, but suffice it to say that it appeared the shelves were throwing up the fabric ... after a very large, very colorful meal.

I took each piece and lovingly stroked it and folded it. I smiled and oohed but mostly made comments like "I have no clue when I bought this" and "I have never seen this piece of fabric before in my life". Which pretty much made Saturday morning ... Christmas.

I had one extra space as things came together so I made a separate pile for my dots. I do love my dots. My dots make me smile.

(You do realize, of course, that what I have in these bookcases represents less than half of The Stash. I split them up over a year ago, and contrary to what either of us thought at the time ... I have pretty much used each half of The Stash equally.)

So ... let me ask you ... when is the last time that you played with your Stash? (fabric, paper, buttons, ribbon, you name it)

And if no one answers yes ... do I need an intervention of some sort?

Pink Chomping

So ... technically I am still taking pictures of pictures ... but these ones are just more fun (which I promised) and required me to eat a calorie-ridden cupcake (which I did.)

After our morning round of appointments we had some lunch (eh ... so so) and ventured next door into a charming little shop, appropriately called Sugar. The walls were all painted in lovely pink stripes, with these luscious pictures of sugar laden goodies to offset the oppulent displays with the real things for sale on the other side.

Of course it would have been just rude, rude, rude to take my pictures and leave. Being the generous soul that I am, I purchased a chocolate/cream cheese cupcake and ate it on the spot. PDaddy had an oatmeal raisin cookie. I would hardly call that Sugar, but to each his own.

On the way back, PDaddy himself pointed out this lovely scene, above. Even if you live in an old high-rise apartment building, that doesn't mean you can't add your own sparkle and panache.

I would definitely call that Sugar!

just tryin' to absorb the vibes ...

So ... in preparation for the baby shower I was hosting in my home on Saturday I ...

a) Had my carpets cleaned.
b) Purchased the lovely pink roses pictured above, and
c) That is pretty much it.

You see, I was giving this shower for the daughter my my good friend, Kelley ... aka Glamma Fabulous. It is probably not neccessary to mention that she is ... Fabulous. And Talented. And Crazy Creative. And ... Generous. Let's just say that two of her five daughters catered the event and she provided all the centerpieces. I pretty much had to show up, which wasn't really hard because ... I live here.

These centerpieces were so very ingenious and there were not one, not two ... but three of them. Aren't they ... fabulous?

Let me also mention that she has five daughters who have inherited her wacky, wonderful ways. D#5 embellished these binkies and the diaper-wipe box.

Puts a touch of elegance into the art of dirty diapers, wouldn't you say?

We sat around until 4 in the afternoon, largely entertained by the antics and impressions of D#1 who had us laughing so hard, I'm suprised D#4 didn't go into labor ... right then and there.

So ... thank you my fabulous friend. And I just want you to know ... I did put those flowers into a vase all by myself ... really I did.

A-Musing . . .

If you look very closely at the picture below, you can see clearly that the basket on top of my armoire is full of magical fairy dust that . . . glows . . . as all magical fairy dust is wont to do. (It's basically the nature of fairy dust.) The reason that it collects there is because that splendid piece of furniture is where my Muse lives.


Every day before I go to work on any particular project, I gingerly open the door (partly out of anticipation, and partly out of a need to protect myself from a lot of the stuff that is stored in there that could fall on my head) and invite my Muse to sit on the couch with me.


I might just pick one or I might pick a whole stack. I might go upstairs and pick a Muse from the baskets and shelves in my sewing room. But, sooner or later I will settle in to soak up some inspiration and rev up the juices. "Be Creative. Be Yourself", my Muse whispers in my ear. (If you blow up the picture below, she will whisper it in your ear, too.)


The problem is this: Sometimes I soak so long, I get downright . . . pruney. Sometimes I muse for so long, there is no longer time to . . . create anything. Am I alone here, people? Does anyone else have the problem of looking at books or magazines for a long, long time before the thought enters the mind, "Hmmmm, perhaps I should quit reading about sewing and actually . . . sew." Ya think?

I am not necessarily looking for answers. The answer is relatively simple: Get out of The Stacks and into The Stash. I just want to know that I am not alone in my dilemma. I just want to have someone validate that it's okay if I loaf around on the couch from time to time.

I just want to be covered in fairy dust.