and yes, the top is done!

Posted in Craft, Creative Practice, Handmade, Make Stuff, Sew this by

I realized while reading Amanda Soule’s blog (if you don’t read it, you need to pop over here, right after your done with mine) that I never shared my completed sewing project that I started in … June.  OK in all fairness, it did not take me until November to finish a shirt…it just took this long for me to post the results.

IMG_0509I started with the buttons and buttonholes on the placket…they are my least favorite thing to do so I figured I’d get them out of the way.

IMG_1427This top was a fun one to make, setting in the bib was a bit tricky but going slowly and paying attention (!) it was fine.IMG_2697So please don’t laugh too hard at my photo in the dressing room mirror (at the Gap trying on jeans while the girls were at a birthday party) Charlie is always teasing me about the look on my face in these types of shots.  Anyway, love the top, it’s fun to wear, very easy, love the fabric.  Will definitely make another one but maybe a touch longer (Top is the Tova Top by Wiksten patterns)

I’ve been sewing quite a bit lately, home stuff mostly, hoping to get more posts up soon.  Very happy to be returning to my sewing machine after too much time away!  Thanks for stopping by…what projects have you been working on?

 

 

permission slips for the field trip

Posted in Craft, Creative Practice, Make Stuff, Soul Work by

I am a seeker…what exactly I’m seeking…well, that’s kind of the point of the whole thing now isn’t it…maybe the seeking and the journey are really what is important, not just the destination.  Or maybe, unlike what we’ve been led to believe, there really is no destination just a never ending amazing journey.

As part of the journey, I seek out like minded kindred spirits and sit at their (most times virtual) feet.  Yesterday I started another piece of the journey with Brene Brown .  If you don’t know Brene from her Ted Talk (which you must must must listen to… right after you finish reading this) or her books (which are a must read particularly the Gifts of Imperfection and Daring Greatly, both of which I have read-and re-read) Well get the on the computer and to a bookstore!

Brene is teaching a 6 week eCourse in partnership with Oprah based on her book the Gifts of Imperfection.  I jumped in at the last minute and I’m embarking on this journey with a few good friends in my back pocket and art supplies in my hand.

So exciting…and I wanted to share our first assignment…Permission slips.

Remember when we were kids and you brought home that 1/2 sheet of paper that was your permission slip for the field trip?  Yeah, you know, the one that still smelled like the mimeograph machine and had vaguely purpl-ey black type?  Mom would fill it out and you’d bring it back to school so you could go to the zoo or the museum or wherever.   As adults, we need to write our own permission slips to ourselves.  Because sometimes, darn it, life is big and scary …. BUT it’s OK if you’ve got your permission slip…

Here are mine..

permission slips

I give myself permission to…Be afraid and do it anyway…Be a complete dork and totally uncool…Seek joy wherever I go and whatever I’m doing…Take time for myself…Not be all things to all people…To just try, and not necessarily succeed…To mess up, to fail, to try again…To say YES more…Practice BRAVE…To have ideas and act on them… To make a creative home.

No go…write your own…be BRAVE…have fun!  Join me on the journey

Week in the Life – The put-together for Saturday & Sunday 9/14 & 9/15

Posted in Memory Keeping, Photography, Week in the Life, Week in the Life 2013 by

It occurs to me that LIFE got in the way and I never posted the last two days of my Week in the Life pages….Well, we’ll just remedy that right now with two days in one post…

Saturday:

WITL-13-Saturday-Cover PageWITL-13-Collage PageWITL-13-Saturday-9 Photo-1WITL-13-Saturday-9 Photo-2

The story:  Gwen made her first goal playing soccer for our town today…totally awesome!!! That I got it as it happened, because I did have my big camera with me… serendipity.  Usual stuff, house stuff, crafting, silly stuff and a little pottery barn catalog window shopping.

Photos:  I started with 104 images, I deleted down to  83 (I had a ton of pix today as I was playing with the sport / burst setting on my big camera at Gwen’s soccer game), of that I used 23.  Templates, Paper and Embellishments (same as the rest of the week)

SUNDAY

WITL-13-Sunday-Cover PageWITL-13-Sunday-Collage Page

 

The Story:  You know, when I went to put the story together for this day… I found that a lot of my photos were duplicates or minutely different versions of the same thing. So I only did two pages, because I didn’t need four, because I felt that the two pages pretty much summed up the day, and because I did not have any lazer tag pictures from the birthday party the girls spent the day at, AND I didn’t think that my photos of cool stuff at The Container Store (where I killed time while girls were at said party) were really that interesting or relevant….so two pages it was.

Photos:  I started with 134 images, I deleted down to 102 , of that I used 11 (yes, you heard me, 11).

Templates:  Ali Edwards  Week in the Life Layered Template Set 8.5 x 11 Vol. 05.  and my 9 photo template.

Paper & Tags:  “Summer Blossoms” kit by WhimpyChompers Creative.  Font is Remington Noiseless (love typewriter fonts!)

AAAND we’re done!  With the putting together of the pages!  At this writing  (on October 20…where does the time go????) I have ordered and received my prints from Persnickety Prints and they are carefully stacked up and tucked away awaiting their place in an album…more on that, as soon as they find their new home!

Love this project, As I mentioned I didn’t know if I was going to work on it again this year but I’m glad I did and I’m glad I kept it super duper simple (for me!)

Thanks for coming along…more on wrapping up this project in another post (hopefully sooner than 6 months)

Week in the Life – The put-together for Friday 9/13

Posted in Memory Keeping, Photography, Week in the Life, Week in the Life 2013 by

I did not take too many pictures today…OK, that’s kind of relative to the average person but for the purposes of this project, 59 is not a lot.  My inner art director decided to go with just a two page spread today and only include the best photos of the bunch.  Quick annotations on the collage page (and the “p” alliteration was completely by accident)  Quiet average day, errands, chores, soccer, a girls crafting and a yummy beer to end the day !

WITL-13-Friday-Cover pageWITL-13-Friday-Collage page

Photos:  I started with 59 images, I deleted down to 33 (more decisive today!), of that I used 24.  Templates, Paper and Embellishments (same as the rest of the week):

Templates:  Ali Edwards  Week in the Life Layered Template Set 8.5 x 11 Vol. 05.

Paper & Tags:  “Summer Blossoms” kit by WhimpyChompers Creative.  Font is Remington Noiseless (love typewriter fonts!)

2 days left…almost done!