World of Fashion.

Yup. I am now officially one of THOSE people. Not that I expect I will be steppin' out in any handmade outfits anytime soon, but my pattern stash just increased EXPONENTIALLY.
Ok, so it is insane to get one of these in the mail, while it is fabulous, it is also a bit crushing, knowing that even if you quit your job and stopped eating and speaking you would only ever be able to finish 1/2 of these patterns before the next issue comes. But, whatever.
I have to say, as excited as I was, I was TERRIFIED when I opened it up to this page. You see what I'm saying here? Should blue floral capri pants exist? No, Burda WOF, they should not. Also, the women who are whipping these up seem to have a real affinity for leopard print that I do not share. Anyway, after getting through the initial shock of seeing the scary flat version of the clothes, I was VERY pleasantly surprised by the photography and fashion "story" format of the magazine. How AWESOME is that lace jacket? So awesome. And maybe when I wear it I will look like an intense German model, right? There are several of these patterns I will Definitely (cough) think about making. And, then, six months later, actually make. If the stars are aligned, and the moon is in retrograde. Promise.

Amazement and Announcements.

Ok, so you know when you have a camera that you love, but you're getting a new camera, and you think, well, it will be better, but how much better can it really be? After all, a camera is a camera, it's the operator that makes the difference. NOT TRUE. Maybe I am the only one who thought that way, and I surely shouldn't have, having worked with many many cameras of varying awesomeness, but the Nikon takes the cake.And, of course, it is all about lenses, and this lens makes me cry for the wonderfulness. Long story short, I got it, I love it, I clutch it to my chest when I sleep, and while I will still take a depressing amount oh photographs of my cat, they will be INCREDIBLE.
Sigh.Announcement is this: I have neglected my etsy too long, and so I am cutting some prices on quilts and such, and have put some sweet little fabric bundles in the shop. I have realized that I have an insane abundance of delightful prints in my fabric stash, which is great, but, guess what? I almost exclusively use solids. D'oh.They're the good stuff, all high-quality vintage and modern stuff, and they are 2 1/2 yards for $14. It's a good deal if you are stash building, and come on, you need a good deal, it's a recession.

Blarg.

Two posts in January? Really? I am lame. Part of my NY's Resolutions was to limit computer time to an hour a day. Most school days I have succeeded, though weekends are generally not as policed. Anyway, I had no intentions of neglecting le blog so much, but it has happened. I am still alive.
So, fabulous Michelle at Oilcloth Junkie has challenged herself to use one pattern a month for the rest of the year, and I have tentatively joined her. I say tentatively, because I might flake out by next month, but this month, I actually sucked it up, cut into one of my saved patterns, (who am I kidding, all my patterns are "saved") and made something that remotely resembles clothing. Not nice clothing, but tolerable apparel. And, it was my first time successfully (relative term) using a knit fabric, so, bonus points! Ding Ding! (It's the brown thing, not the jacket. If I could make jackets I would give myself so many dings I would be unable to bear all the noise.) As you can see, the results are best when worn beneath layers, as the sleeves are a bit more poofy than I really care to let anyone know. I dig the pattern, but left on it's own, it is a tad muu-muu-esque. Whatever. I'm proud. And I actually wore it to work, and no one asked me if I had made it myself! Of course, I know it's what they were all thinking, but, they were too polite to ask! More bonus points? I think so!
Ding!
Ding!
(Pictures of me are dorky; I look like a dork. It's that ridiculous smile thing. Apologies, profuse ones.)

We Rearranged.

We rearranged our office. Do you care? No. Are you going to see photographic evidence? If you are still reading this, probably so.

Also, I know a lot of you have suspected it for a while, but Baxter lays out my quilts.He also designs them. Amazing, isn't he? I mean, no thumbs. An inspiration to us all.

I think I just poo'ed a little.

Ok, so, I feel the need to explain my day on Wednesday: furious amounts of last minute gift-makery, endless burning with irons, the need to photograph at least SOME of the presents before they disappear into small sticky hands, packing, wrapping, general mayhem.
No blog-checking. Google Reader, you were neglected. How foolish I was. But.
I got home today, and was finally checking the backlog and.
Holy Poo.
Holy Moly.
Holy Moly Poo.
Everyone is going to hate me now, but I won a camera from the
AMAZING
FABULOUS
EXTREMELY GENEROUS
TALENTED
BEAUTIFUL
Did I mention extremely generous?
REE
of PIONEER WOMAN!
And, pretty much, I am still hyperventilating. Thank you, Ree! I can't even think of things to say! Especially not smart or interesting or funny things! In fact, at this point, I am still dizzy!
And have I mentioned that the camera is not just any camera. It's a
NIKON D2x?!?!?!
You are all free to hate me now. I hate me a little bit now. But I think I will eventually get over it. It is troublesome hating the person you live in a head with.
Did that make sense? No. But neither do I right now.
Thank you, Ree!
AHHHHHHHHHHHH!
( and I hope this doesn't seem gloaty! I really, really, don't want to seem gloaty, because I hate gloaty, but when someone gives you the awesomest random-prize-winning-draw of your life, or ever, you feel the need to mention it. At least. Ree rocks. Ree can come over to my house, any time she wants, and put manure covered feet on any of my furniture. Not that your feet are covered with manure. I don't think they are. But if they were, you could do it anyway. I have sponges. Somewhere.)

Last minute? What?

Rice Bags, Fabric Strips, Etc.

So, yesterday I got the idea into my head to make some rice bags, because, you know, it isn't like I don't ALREADY have 14 holiday craft projects to complete, and everything else to wrap, and, oh wait, I said I would screenprint our Christmas cards? Yeah. So, I decided to make some, because I was chilly, and it seemed easy, and there are always those people who you
a) don't know what to buy for
b) didn't know they were going to give you a present and so had nothing for them, or
c) need to give one more thing to, in order to justify not spending enough money on them.
So, essentially, these are the B team of presents. Not to say those who recieve them are B-teamers! You're fabulous, you to-be-determined folks, you! But these presents are not that difficult, but rather functional. I followed the instructions found here, and made two different kinds.
These are the girly ones, the bottom one with the bunnies on it is MINE! And you can't have it! (Although, at this point, it has already spent one night covering my feet, so I doubt you WOULD want it.)This second group is the manly man bags, made of some beautiful wool suitings I got a few years back at a vintage clothing sale.One word of caution with the rice bags though: You might think you're being smart by microwaving them for an extra 30 seconds, but you are not. Unless you want your special sitting parts to be burned off. Do you? DO YOU? Not smart, people.Also, I SO enjoyed reading about all of your failed or semi-failed crafting experiences! There was a lot of giggling around here, but then I asked the Random number generator "Who gets it?" and he said:Congratulations, Heather! You're a winner! Also, the first thing I ever tried to "sew" was a pillowcase skirt, and I thought I could use stitch witchery too! Fail! I wonder how many awful projects have been a direct result of the allure of fusable webbing strips? Also, I feel obliged to mention, that there was a death in the family today. Beloved carrot toy has finally bit the big one. Fortunately, a new beloved carrot was already purchased a month ago, when I thought that this one had been thrown out, but was, in fact, only hidden. Newer carrot is still in commission, although he has already lost both of his leafy ears in combat. A moment of silence?