Monday, April 26, 2010

Mah New Baby!

Ha! Perhaps we should have a dirty-jeans convention? We can bring the ones we have worn into dust and tell the long stories of their sentimental value to us? It will be like Violet Beauregarde's gum, but with denim, and we can have a prize for whoever has worn them the longest, and that prize will be a giftcard to the nearest laundromat. Have I told you, lately, that I love you?
Because I do. H'Anyways, moving on before I get too sentimental, I have been awaiting a package from Spoonflower containing my newest fabric designs, and they have finally arrived! This is not really as exciting to anyone as it is to me, but to me it is SUPAAAAA EXHIYTING. So, I present to you my newest design, which I haven't given a cute name to, but you are welcome to leave suggestions in the comments. I thought of "Ship-Shape" but it is possibly too cutesy? Who knows, but the fact is that I looooove this fabric. I do not care that it makes me a design narcissist, I really really like this one. Because adorable little boats! So many of them! None of which would really sail at all because I use reference photos extremely loosely! I love! So far, I have just printed it in the black and white and the blue, but I think it will end up in a few other colors, eventually. I went ahead and put it up in my etsy shop, though, if you want to get your sail on!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Blogging About Blogging.

If you want to understand what I am talking about in this post, read this. If not, well, ok. Context clues, I guess?

So I read Kathy's post last night and it really really got to me. I get the feeling she is talking about ALL THE TIME, and so while it is nice to know that I'm not the only one, it also got me thinking about what this blogging nonsense is, and why I do it.
I do it because it is fun. That's the first thing, and if it wasn't the first thing, I would have no business doing it. I do it because I like the connections I make with people through my own little blog. I do it because my husband doesn't want to hear me drone on for hours about the things I write about here. (Although he does read this blog, and I do still drone on, so... Sorry, Brian.) BUT I also do it because I feel like it makes me seem like a better, cooler, and more together person than I really am. Because my blog is my life, but edited and styled and fluffed out a little, to make it seem a bit more fantastic than it is. A lot more, really. I know that no one who reads this blog thinks I am Martha Stewart or anything, but you probably don't think of me as a person who only does dishes once a week and will wear the same pants for about a month before washing them. Or maybe you do, I don't know, but I do know that EVERY PART of my house is a mess EXCEPT what falls within the angle of my camera lens. And I use a narrow-angled lens.

So while I have to admit, my life is probably just about the best it has ever been right now, it looks better online than it does in person. I don't think anyone out there is jealous of me, but if you were even considering it, I want you to know...

There are two food groups in my life right now, Easter candy and cottage cheese.
I really haven't washed the jeans I am wearing in about a month.
Today the boots that I have duct taped together started letting in water, and I almost started to cry.
I watch, like, a LOT of trashy tv. So much.
I have letters I started writing months ago sitting on my bedside table giving me dirty looks. I have emails that have needed replies for months. I am a complete communication-flake, which leads to constant guilt but little action.
I ALWAYS photoshop out my zits in photos, even, usually, in photobooth photos.
On the last post, I moved the moving boxes around so they would look more photogenic. This is the depth of my illness.
I don't eat organic food, I eat whatever is cheapest, and there is always Velveeta in my kitchen.
I always forget to take out the recycling so we currently have three bags of it sitting in various spots around the house. AND our entryway is filled with the boxes we bring home from Costco.
I own a bazillion reusable bags, but I always forget to take them to the store.
I yell Really Bad Word at the animals if they step on sewing stuff I am working on. EVen though, they are animals, and the things they stepped on were on the FLOOR.

Now you know.
But since you read this whole post, which was QUITE THE DOWNER, if I do say so myself, reward yourself by watching THIS:

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Two Things:


1) I was interviewed by the fabulous April of aprilmariemay.com and it is here if you want to read it. I = not wonderful interviewee, so keep those expectations low, my friendlings.
2) TODAY, after, uhm, like, eight years of sewing?, discovered that I have NOT BEEN USING THE SEAM RIPPER CORRECTLY. Like, I had no idea, I had been picking stuff out STITCH by STITCH, but it turns out it is SHARP and it SEAM-RIPS! Just like it's name! Yeah. I am awesome.
Picture, by the way, is a view of the thermos collection as seen from the floor under the thermos shelf. Currently, the thermoses (thermosi?) are in a box, but this photo still makes me happy.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Thank you all so much for your kind comments on the house. I am trying not to go crazy thinking of all the things I can't wait to get in there and change, but it is harrrd. Especially when I have been hitting up flickr for some much interior design inspiration. SO, in the meantime, I have gotten myself a little project (like I need another one) to hone my decorating and paint selection skillz. I won't be keeping it, it is to be a gift for a delightful little girl, but I am SO excited to play around with it! It was a $15 craigslist score, and exactly what I had in mind, simple and sturdy. Are there any experienced dollhouse-folks out there? Any suggestions on making something like this tough enough to withstand a two-year-old? I'm really not sure if two is old enough to really get into this sort of thing, but then again, knowing me, there is the possibility that I won't get it finished until she is five.Another thing I am super excited about is Katie's Vintage Sheet Swap. I have been combing the local thrift shops for new and exciting finds, and cannot WAIT to see what I get in the swap. Pictured are a few of my recent sheet purchases in front of our newest poster acquisition, "Robot Stealing Swimsuit Lady". Or that's what it is called in my head, anyway. Nice, eh?
If you are the sort of person who actually GOES to blogs instead of feed-readering them you already know this, but I spiffed up my blogger page a bit. It had been driving me CRAZY for quite a while, but hadn't been something I had gotten around to until today. Also, I finally began to put some schtuff up on the Aunt June facebook page, so, be my friend? If you wanna?
And, on the list of thing I am trying to ignore...And for no good reason:

Thursday, April 15, 2010

We Found One.

And, it is perfect. It seems like we spent FOREVER looking, but once we finally decided what we really wanted, it ended up being simple. And, we got lucky.
First of all, I got what I wanted, which is, olllllllllllllld. This house would have great great great great grandchildren, if it could reproduce. It was built in 1900, and it FEELS like it, which I just love. And husband got what he wanted, because, get this, NOTHING NEEDS TO BE FIXED. This is the lucky part- in the past three years, the previous homeowner replaced all of those awful things that make you want to vomit when you realize how much they cost. Roof, new, windows, new, HVAC, new, etc etc but floors, delightfully old, plaster charmingly(? Ha.) cracked. And I am sure that there will be problems, but right now we are in pre-move-in-dreamy-state, where everything is rosy and I spend hours on end looking at paint samples. (Followed Jenny's advice on the Sherwin-Williams paint swatchy thing.)
So. We don't close until the end of May, but barring major catastrophes, it is our new home. And so now I can get back to making some things, (New fabric! In the pipes! Pipes bursting!) when I am not packing. Ugh. packing....

Friday, April 9, 2010

Just Checkin' In.

Well, there is possibly exciting news on the horizon, but I am super superstitious and hesitant to tell you all abouts it until everything is said and done. Or, until after some more things have been said and/or done. Whatever, you can surely guess what it is, but that is all I will say on the matter. What a terribly uninformative paragraph I have just written. I could delete it, but I am lazy, so apologies for having suffered through it. SUCKAS!!!ANYWAYS, I just wanted to let you know in case you may be interested that I am now selling my Bicycle fabric as 1/2 yard sets of four fat eighths. Does that make sense? It sounds really complicated when I try and type it out, but, four colors on a half yard, and there is a new color, turquoise, on the "cool" 1/2 yard set. So, you could get all of the colors by just purchasing a single yard of fabric, which is perfect for patchwork projects where you want a lot of colors but don't need a huge amount of any of them. And, it is perfect bike weather right now, so...
Ok. That's enough huckstering for me for today. I am off, to enjoy the lovely weather and stew in my own juices about Potential Major Life Events!