Valentine's Crafts Ideas

I'm still in a knitting frenzy, though I have one piece to go before I plan to switch back  to sewing. In the meantime, it's time to think about Valentine's crafts for myself and the kiddo.

SuperMom has a great tutorial for making see-through Valentine's. Two options for changing- make them out of gauzy fabric that has to be cut to open, and I wonder if it's possible to simply iron the edges of the wax paper version.

We like to use our heart shaped silicone ice cube mold to make red glittery heart soaps. You can do it with crayons too.

I really like these hair clips

These conversation hearts would make great lavender sachets

We don't have any special plans (yet), and I'm not that great at sewing (obviously), but I recently found Dress a Day and am thinking about giving the whole dress remake thing a shot; maybe I'll end up with a cute dress for Vday. Maybe with a heart cutout in the back.

A quick Ravelry search brings up loads of Valentine-themed fiber arts. Then again, I might not be done knitting just yet...

Recouperating

That was a bumpy 6 months! I'm finally starting to recuperate, by which I mean that I have some free time and am using it. Mostly to craft....

To that end, I welcome you to look me up on Ravelry (Flaming Maiden). See you there!

Flog that dead donkey

When I grow oldish, I'm going on tour.  I really love concerts.  I love the people, shaking my ass, the travel, all of it. I really love my husband for accepting this about me, even though he doesn't really get into it.

Les Claypool is currently on tour, and for the next few weeks, before he hooks back up with Primus and Gogol Bordello, London's Hot Head Show is warming up the crowd.  Before the show, I was not at all interested in these punks and was unimpressed when they first took the stage.  Within half an hour, they'd won our hearts.  Sadly, I can't seem to find their album anywhere in the States.  The lead singer is nearly unintelligible most of the time, but occasionally you catch lines like "flog that dead donkey" and "suck my nuts".  We really got the impression that he was making fun of us.

The lyrics come through much more clearly in the recordings, and are even better than we thought.  Also, this band has serious musical talent, making them entirely worthy of globe trotting with the man, the myth, the legend himself.   

A stiff one

I just wrapped up a four day straight gardening blitz.  I fully landscaped the shade bed along one side of the house, fixed up the front beds, worked on the back bed which needs a lot more planted once the wild violets stop blooming and I can pull them out.  I desperately want a TON of ranunculus to grow in the back, they are so very lovely: 

Over my four day gardening marathon, I planted two hydrangeas:

 And two tomatos:

A cantaloupe:

A watermelon:

About 14 herbs:

As well as two pink azaleas, two scarlet rhododendrons, strawberries, garlic and 12 hostas.

We have very rocky ground here, and I woke up this morning almost incapable of moving or speaking, my body is so stiff and sore.  My eyes are a bit swollen from the allergies that mulching caused to flare up.  All in all, I'm not nearly as on top of things as I should be today.  I need to get a ton of work done this week, as next week is dedicated to getting ready for the fillies to run.

Ah, Kentucky spring!  Instead of pouring a stiff one, its my back that's stiff! 

Problems with scale

So, about that loose tooth. It's been a week, and that thing hasn't gotten any more loose. Everything still looks good, the damage to the gum from the swing incident has healed, so it actually looks even better than last week's photo. The tooth is still loose, it just isn't making much progress. I had a Mom tell me at a cookout a few nights ago that that's normal, that her son has had the same tooth loose for a month. Can anybody back that up? Our dentist tells me not to worry as long as it all looks healthy and E's not in pain. Frankly, I think it's gross.

Anyway, being the crafty Mommy that I am, I ran out the next day and made E a bag to put his tooth in once it comes out. A tooth bag. I looked them up online just to double check that I'm not entirely nuts, and lots of people make them. They are cute. Most are made of felt, but I wanted a bag that is washable (bloody teeth do NOT belong in unwashable bags), and also reversible so it can be used for other stuff in the future.

I often think that things are smaller than they actually are. I also often go off half cocked and craft something up without much planning. I have problems with scale:

On the appliqued tooth is a rock that I estimate to be a smidgen larger than one of E's actual teeth. Given my problems with scale, who the heck knows? That pebble might actually be the size of E's kneecap if we are trusting me to judge. Moving on; the stripey fabric is the reversible bag, that white tooth applique is just for kicks. Oh yeah, it also has a drawstring!

And that is the tooth bag in relation to my hand.

The tooth fairy is going to be hard pressed to find a teeny baby tooth in there.

In other crafty news, I made my own version of the Gardener's Hand Scrub recipe that I found on the House on Hill Road blog. I used peppermint Dr Bronner's, whereas she uses Mrs Meyers dish soap-- I just couldn't get myself on board with the dish soap thing. Other than that, I pretty much just followed her directions, then I made a little cardstock tag and tied that onto the jar with ribbon, and viola! I gave it to a neighbor who has been hard at work in her garden these two weeks.

Today, I picked up some lavender Dr Bronner's to make some for me because I have major plans for some serious landscaping and gardening activity to happen around here this weekend.

On a slightly more personal note, for those who know just exactly how much fun I've had sitting on the PTA board this year (seriously, some people take the PTA wayyyyy too seriously)-- I get to run the election tonight! I hope to be celebrating with wine spritzers by 8.

Back to the Bonfire

A lot has gone on since I abandoned this space. The most important being that my depression finally became so deep, so dark, so desperate that even I finally recognized what was happening to myself and my family. So, I found a decent doctor and got on medicine that works well to overcome the genetic infinite sadness that I inherited from my Grandmother. So, I'm a lot better, nearly whole. And my family unit is much better, and feels very whole, which is vital as the years of expensive infertility treatments added quite a lot to my depression and my family didn't feel whole and I didn't feel whole and the whole thing was really falling to pieces around me as I struggled to keep them glued back together.

Now Chris, and E, and I are the glue that holds everything else around us together. In a very good, very happy way.

See? Glue.

Along with becoming happy and whole, I started my own company! A little copy writing business that I love very much, and that is growing all the time. For the many friends who have been wondering where I am and why I never answer the phone and rarely return calls, here is the answer:

Chris made the logo; I love it! I have intentions of having that little inkwell tattooed above my elbow.

Which proves that I did NOT turn into a medicated zombie, and that I am indeed still my regular, fiery, The Flaming Maiden: Nicole! self. I turned 30, and my Mom gave me this for my birthday present:

That, my lovelies, is a tattoo on my right shoulder. It is a large (to me) fiery lion. As a matter of fact, it is THE fiery lion that pulls a fiery chariot that carries a fiery Prince, WHO, it turns out, is in fact my very fiery son.

He has learned how to ride a bike this Spring.

Though I don't have as much time as of late, we do still craft. I am currently working on lots of socks, and an afghan for Chris that is a tiny bit like one his mother made him when he was a boy. It rained Sunday, so E and I had time to hole up in the art studio.

I tried to make a pincushion from scrap fabric. I need to reopen it and add some stuffing-- the bottom is rather poky.

Chris's Granny has recently been in the hospital, and very on our minds and in our prayers (she is recovering). A combination of that, and a giant pickle jar induced me to come up with this:

I used a piece of a quilt top that I inherited from Granny's old sewing stash, then I sewed it- wait for it--- using zigzag stitch all around the edges to a piece of-wait for it--- that sort of grippy shelf paper! Do you know what I'm talking about? The shelf liner that keeps the rims of glasses from chipping? Only I have very pretty grippy shelf liner! So now we have a very pretty kitchen grippy for opening jars! And it pretties up the giant pickle jar too!
As an added bonus, Chris informed me that his Mama used to have a quilted jar lid cover that she used on giant pickle jars. Mine is grippy to make it easier to open jars, but it's the same concept. Folks, that's like two sweet things for Chris in one!

Also, he gets to eat the pickles. Unfortunately, we are crazy for giant pickle jars and Ezra and I need Chris to eat two of these jars of pickles as quickly as possible. I hope he's up to the challenge. To be fair, Chris started it. He uses a giant pickle jar to store corks for the miniatures that he carves. I have one giant pickle jar that I store ribbons in (it's so pretty!), and recently had a reason why I need another, though I can't remember just at this moment what it is. Yarn, maybe? Ezra wants one to fill with "pricklies" that he collects on his bike rides around the neighborhood. They are some sort of large, prickly seed pod that falls off, I think it's a ginko tree, maybe. Anyway, he collects them and wants a jar to store them in. He also has plans to grow one of these trees in our yard so that we will have a never ending supply of pricklies. I think we should start it growing in a pot so that it can grow into a sapling before we plant it in the yard so that it doesn't get cut down by the lawnmower.

See? Whole.

I guess I got into some sort of mood . . .

Summer ends
as school begins.
Time to move the stack of books
that hides my alarm clock.

------------------------------

Puppy, you are so like a toddler,
with your favorite toy baby
and peeing on my floors.
Guess I don't need another.

Are We There Yet?

I know I have been a bad blogger as of late, what with the not updating. Due to the poor economy, The Mister finds himself in the position of needing to find a new work position in the course of 5 weeks. As you can imagine, this has the entire household stressed to the max, what with the phone ringing off the hook and the iPhones beeping that Mister has email constantly. It's noisy, and stressful, and at the end of the day we all just want to collapse but the phones just keep rattling.

Which is great, we're just thrilled to have a sense that things will all work out alright in the end. But it is a long road to getting there. There are some very big decisions that must be made- like do we move and have to sell our house in this awful market when a comparable position is likely to be offered right where we are? If we move, with our sense of adventure flying like large red flags, will we regret it in a few years, only to find ourselves in a location with a smaller job market and longer commute? Perhaps most importantly, if we move to said location, can I have fancy-pants chickens? Where can I get some of those wooden shoes so they don't peck my toes when I feed them?

(Thanks to Curious/Funny Photos/Pictures for this guy.)

In the meantime, I am attempting to consider some Spring sewing that I had planned. I am currently coveting Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross. All the sewing bloggers are going wild over it, and I really, really want this book-- on top of the clear instructions and detailed information explaining the point of what you are doing, it comes with actual paper patterns! Paper patterns! Say it again: Paper patterns! I am waiting for Mister's job mess to get cleared up before purchasing this fantastic wonder of a book, because I am a responsible adult like that. Geez, I hope it is very, very soon.

The Snuggie Extravaganza

A couple weeks ago, we spent what is hopefully our last frigid Saturday of this winter with some friends who have a most charming daughter. Over the course of our expedition, it was pointed out to me that Maddie (the most charming daughter) was yearning for a Snuggie-- that backward robe/blanket thing they sell on T.V. If you are not familiar with the Snuggie, please pop over to YouTube and familiarize yourself before reading further.

Good. Now that you know what a Snuggie is, you will understand that my sewing self simply could not allow this charming young lady to go around in one. If you still don't understand the inherent problems with the Snuggie, please pop back over to YouTube and watch this. As a matter of fact, at some point you really should go watch this parady, because you will laugh quite hard. Be forewarned, the parady is not appropriate for work or children. There, I've linked the parady several times-- I hope you understand just how badly I think you need to see it.

Got that? Good. Now, as I explained, I simply couldn't allow this darling of a young lady to go through life like an old person. So, we invented our own version of the Snuggie. It's not for sale, and there is no pattern, we just winged it. Also, the back is closed on ours- the whole thing pulls on over the head. And it turned out pretty OK. And, I think she can now get away with wearing a Snuggie - esque thing to sleepovers and still get invited back. Check it out:

Can you see the coolness dripping off of her? SKULL Snuggie, people. I understand her parents had to fight it off her in order to get her to bathe, the warm awesomeness is that great!

Of course, Ezra got one too. I had enough fabric leftover to make him some pants too, which was convenient as he's outgrown his other tye-dyed polarfleece pants and has been going around all winter with them several inches too short and making snarky comments about how that monster for Christmas was great and all, but geez, he sure could use some new tye-dyed polarfleece pants. Now, he has the pants and a homemade version of the Snuggie:

Oh yeah, he's also the Silly Face King.

Reprieve

I finished the great big overwhelming project yesterday and immediately set myself to putting my house to right. Before I could clean, though, I had to take a few minutes to make pillow covers:

I know it's not the most exciting thing to talk about, but it sure felt great to sew a little something. I haven't had time to sew in weeks. That fabric is taken from the stash, and while it's not the world's most lovely fabric, the colors match the room and it's a huge improvement over what those pillows actually look like. And who doesn't love a bit of free decorating? Those are simple covers that just fold in on the open side. I'm all about removable covers so I can wash stuff.

Washing stuff is exactly the plan for today, and I need to get to it.

Worth Getting Excited Over

Jessica, over at How About Orange has a post up today about a new movie coming out in which EVERYTHING is Made. By. Hand. I love that. I'll have to go see it in the theatre. Hopefully I can find somebody to go with me (hint, hint). Check out the info and the trailor over at Coraline.

So Good, You Can't Read It At Bedtime

My friend and neighbor, Anna, introduced me to the book series that HBO's "True Blood" is based on. The books kick the tv show's butt. They are so good, I'm having hard time doing anything other than reading them, and laundry is really piling up around here. They are hard to get at the library, as they are so ragingly popular, but are so good they are worth buying. Amazon has the box set at a very reasonable price, and also has used books available. Run out and get yourself started. Your only regret will be that you will have to put them down long enough to feed yourself.

The author is Charlaine Harris, the series is "The Sookie Stackhouse Series" and the first book is titled Dead Until Dark. Harris has created a rich, magical world that you won't ever want to leave. Girl meets vampires. Vampires get girl into all kinds of trouble. Vampires take good care of girl. Readers swoon.

A New Year, A New Setup

Sometime this morning the cable guy is coming to turn off our cable and take away our digital box. We have finally had enough of paying through the nose for commercial-laden television. This happily coincides with the completion of our in-house art studio. I imagine not having readily-available T.V. will change our family for the best.

This comes after much research into the availability of shows we like on the internet. Last night, I lied in bed and was determined to watch television, as a goodbye sort of thing. I found that there was nothing on at all and turned it off, certain that our decision is the right one. So, stay tuned here for what is certain to end up being a lot more crafting!