Monday, August 23, 2010

POSTSPLOSION!

This is a giant load of post, kiddies. Changes have been afoot, and trips have been taken, and general mayhem has been achieved. Without the mayhem. Whatever. There has been STUFF! GOING! ON! Like massive amounts of tote-bag-makery. And a small bit of quilt-beginning. And a decent amount of fabric-shoppery, but I am getting ahead of myself. First things first: The internet kindof likes me. A little. Not like we're dating, or anything, but every once ahd a while the webs are dropping hints that they thing I am not so bad. You know google alerts? The little things you can set to see if people talk about you on the internet? If you are vain and silly, as I am? Well, 99.9% of "aunt june" google alerts are obituaries. There are a lot of beloved and dead aunt Junes out there, and I get emails every day telling me about them. But this past week, there have been a smattering of non-dead-aunt references, references to little old me, and it is always surprising.

Like most creative people, I think, I swing between the two extremes of, "I am AWESOME! Bow down to my awesomeness! Or at least, my general okay-ness!" and "ohmylord i am a hack and why would anyone be interested in me and am i even doing good work and is it original and where is it going and should i get a real job because i am only qualified for retail and i will miss not working saturdays ohcrapohcrapohcrap." Which, I am not saying this to garner pity, or have anyone reassure me, but I just think it is a phenomenon a lot of us go through, and it evens itself out generally, but it is why it is SUPER helpful to occasionally get the ol' interweb pat on the back from someone who is NOT your mother. This paragraph was supposed to have been, like, one sentence. Ahwell. The point, I think, was if you want to read about how generally ok a few other people think what I make is, you should go check out the awesome, really nice write-up Gwyneth, The Daring Librarian, did on the new Overdue Book Calendar. Which is out, and which I will eventually post about, but she did a better job than me anyways. Caitlin has been making some clutches from my bike fabric, and she and I are also going to be in a booth together at an upcoming local craft show, so yay for quilt guild friends! Also, Karla of ZAPOLDesigns wrote a little post on one of my bags. And then, there was a nice little mention of the calendar again on ohdeedoh! Thanks, guys, for putting a smile on my face!Ok. So. Early last week this was the way my sewing table looked, and I had no reason to think that it would ever change.This is the view now. What happens is, you start hanging out with the wrong kind of people (Bernina dealers) and then all of a sudden, BAM. My friend and fellow KCMQG officer, Jaime, told me about some pre-owned mechanical Bernina's they were going to be getting, and would I like to take one for a spin? Initially I was all, pshh, naw, but then THE BEST HUSBAND EVER made me an offer I couldn't refuse--- a combined anniversary/birthday/Christmas gift. But I was still not sure, because, folks, I hate change. And learning new things. And so when I went to the Bernina store Jaime works at last Tuesday, I was seriously hoping that I wouldn't like this machine any more than the beloved Viking, and that would be that, but people. Berninas, they are THE STUFF, and I had heard others say it, but a few minutes into the demo, I knew it to be the truth. This machine is a workhorse, not fancy, but it can do so many things so easily, and it is all so PRECISE and POWERFUL and SWISS and whatnot. I love it, I really do. I cannot yet bring myself to give up the Viking, though, for a lot of sentimental reasons... I still feel like a bit of a traitor, especially since I absolutely love that machine and was super happy with it.I meant to put a lot more stuff in this post, but I am getting the 7:00 lazies, and I want to go watch the fourth season of Dexter on dvd, so I will save the rest of it for the near future. Teaser? I go to someone's house, and I SEW! And then I go to a fabric store, and I BUY! When I write it down like that, it honestly doesn't sound too interesting, but it is? Mildly? To me anyway?
Baxter says hi, by the way, from the ugliest chair in the world.

Monday, August 16, 2010

I'm on decor8! WHAT?!?

Wow. I don't even know what to say here- I was just ging through my google reader, la-de-da, and then thereisapictureofmyhouseandmyfabricandohmylordwhatblogisthisit'sFRICKENDECOR8! WHAT?! WHAT??!??!?Now, I swear I'm not going to get all Oscar-speechy, but I just want to thank everyone who reads this thing, end everyone who comments, and everyone who has bought something, and everything who has considered buying something, and everyone who likes QT iced tea as much as I do. You all make me SO happy. At this point last year, I was just starting to dip my toes in the fabric-design-serious-about-Etsy waters, and now... Well, the feedback I have gotten from people has blown my mind. I mean, I always knew that I thought I was making good stuff, (me = egomaniac, but only Tuesday-Thursday), but it's the most amazing thing to have other people like what I'm doing. So, thanks, all of you, even if you're just stopping by. You've made my day, and my year, and my decade. Uhm, maybe not that last one. But you're still awesome. Wanna come over? We just got a barbecue grill. And you can use the bathroom, but the sink water in there smells. Just a warning.
THANKS!

Oh, and also, Jessica and I are the same person. Who knew?

Friday, August 13, 2010

I Thought It Couldn't Get Much Better...

this could be your lucky dayBut then the lovely Sonia of Cozy Homemaking sent me this link to her giveaway! Can you believe how awesome this pincushion is?!?! Maybe I'm biased, but I think it's just the best thing ever! Go over to her site and sign up to win it, IMMEDIAMENTE!

Today is the Day!!!

I'm Etsy's featured seller! Check it out!
Also, check out the super-cheesy photo I had to take of myself... This was about 4 hours worth of camera-timer-setting-cheesy-smiling-torture, friends. But I am GIDDY with joy! And, you might notice some new additions to my shop... or should I say shopS.More on the new shop later, I'm off to do a happy dance!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

I Bee Failure.

Well, at least as far as deadlines go. Here is my block for Rossie's Mid-Mod Quilt Bee. This month was Rossie's month, and she wanted kelp shapes, and sent some of her FABULOUS hand-dyed fabric to work with! Mine is, uhm, simple. Maybe I'm lazy? Well, I am lazy, but I thought it would be a nice calm addition to the quilt. Or something like that. My brain is fried, I'll explain why later, more specifically, on Friday. FRIDAY! Don't get too excited, friends.Ughhhh, brain-fry. I must go and put things of cloth together with strings. Sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepy.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

I Promise, I'm Doin' Stuff.

Craft room, anyone? Well, all has been quiet on the blog front, but around here there is a steady hum of activity. Right now I am working on finishing up a few things, including the 2011 Overdue Book Calendar and some other new projects I have been working on for the Etsy shop. Sneak peek? Don't mind if you do.The Ric Rac Roundup was AMAZING, it was a beautiful (if very hot) day, and I met a bunch of new people, and saw a lot of friends! It was really the best craft show experience I have ever had, which is saying a lot because I have really enjoyed some of the craft shows I have participated in. Right as we were beginning to pack up, though, it TOTALLY monsooned, and everything I had except for the merchandise got soaked! Everyone was running around like crazy, and we were all drenched, and Betsy and her boyfriend were sweet enough to help me pack up supa-fast-style and let me keep my sopping canopy at the store for the night. But even with the torrential downpour, it was such a great day! Thanks to everyone who came out, you're the best!I did something a little bit unusual this weekend, and whipped out a tote bag just for me. I buy SO much fabric, and then I never use it on projects for myself because, well, it feels so indulgent to make a tote just for little old me. This was such a fun and simple bag to make though, the fabric is from Lizzy House's Castle Peeps line, (which I LOOOOOOVE) and the whole thing took just 35 minutes to pop together. (I know the exact time because I did it while baking macaroni and cheese. Multi-tasking, boo-yeah.) If I were a little bit more ambitious, I would have made some cute covered buttons with the coordinating peeps fabric to sew on... maybe I'll have another macaroni-bake time sometime soon?
And a tutorial for the VIntage Sheet Shopper is coming, but my scanning elves have been sleeping on the job, so not quite ready yet. Lazy scanning elves, don't you know how badly the Sexy Asian Lady Bots (SALB's from here on out) want that tutorial. Also, how do I get rid of my SALB's? Anyone know? And there was also a ManBot named CEDRIC McCLOUD, of all things, who also turned out to be a SALB. I do not know what to do, people, I am drowning in their internet seduction-spamming!