4th Sewing Lesson

For the 4th Sewing Lesson, I had a new companion- my friend Kim from work. She, Ryan and I all commuted to Mom's house together, so Ryan could continue work on her dog bed, I could make more napkins, and Kim could get reacquainted with her sewing machine (and start on some shoe bags).

Kim barely remembered her machine ;) But after a couple hours they were old friends again.
Finally making some progress! :)
Taking a break from napkins, I started on a new project- A Fort Kit- made from thifted curtains. I love green giving + fun + imagination.
And I put the draw string in the bag that will hold one of the Fort Kits [once its contents have been made and purchased]. One more project completed. It may not be perfect but its damn cute, and its done (with love).
Before we started work, I was showing off my great, cheap, green finds from Goodwill & Salvation Army. Ryan was eyeing this blue checked fabric, which I agreed to give her (I had no specific plans for it- except for the drawstring which went into the bag above). With plans to make it into another dog bed for Shooter, Aunt Milly went to work ripping stitches and prepping it.
Yes, sewing night is fun. Everyone works. Everyone laughs. Everyone (except perhaps Mom) make some sort of progress.
Although Mom has learned how to use Evernote (one of my favorite applications), and of course has imparted MUCH knowledge to the rest of us so she definitely say she accomplishes a lot each week :)
In fact, she does usually do at least a little sewing. Had to capture some proof of that.

Thanks for being a great teacher mom. We love you!

3rd Sewing Lesson

My third sewing lesson was much of the same.

Dinner with Mom, Ryan, Auntie Milly and Dad before heading upstairs to work on my napkins.

What was new- was the cool sewing machine Jeff got from one of his job sites awhile back and lent to us for the cause. It was super dirty, so the only real progress we made for the night was getting it somewhat cleaned off.

And of course- Admiring it!

Isn't she beautiful!?

It's a Zig Zag brand sewing machine, apparently made in Japan which is nearly impossible to find online... Its old and gorgeous, weighs about 14 tons, and in old-school fashion, still appears to work. But there was no time to delve into learning a new machine.... we had sewing to do.
Ryan continued work on her dog bed....

... and I made some more napkins. Let the progress, and the learning, continue.

The Last of the Big January Snowstorms

Snow. We've had so much of it this year- in January in particular. Now that February is nearly over and all this snow has started melted and looking gross and muddy, I am starting to miss it. So here, for posterity. The gorgeous snow at our hideaway in the woods:

Piling up on the deck railings...
My car in under there somewhere...


This is my favorite little clearing, to the left side of the driving (when you're driving in), the spot previously occupied by Bill's old Honda.... It always seems enchanting to me, but always even moreso when its caked in snow.
Peeking at the house as you round the bend of the driveway. Seems so tucked in, doesn't it. Like the snow is literally a blanket. I love our home.
My car. Handling the snowy season very well.
As is the plow. Trusty little guy. We are so thankful for all your hard work.

A little color (one pink scarf) peeking out of my black coat as I look down at my snowy, sturdy boots...
Snowy tires. Ready for another ride.
The snow and ice on the roof!
Wood waiting to keep us warm. We haven't had to turn the heat on even once this year! Granted last year we only used it a few times to take the edge off a cold morning shower routine... but still. Not to have used it at all seems like a feat of some kind. I'm much better at building and maintaining the fire this year which is definitely an accomplishment. I hope I don't lose it all again come next winter!

3-fer

On Wednesday February 9th, we celebrated 3 big February events- Mom's Birthday, Jeff's Birthday & Valentine's Day! Just the immediately family. Mom, Dad, Jeff, Melissa, Riley, Garret, Dan and Me. We ate pizza for supper and then after much begging from Riley (who was finished with dinner first) it was time for cake.

We pieced together as many number candles as we could find and delicately balanced them on the cake.

29 (Jeff) and (55) Mom

Pretty idn't it?

And what's a birthday without some party hats?
We sang to Mom first! Happy Birthday TO YOU!
A little help blowing out her candles...
And then it was Bud's turn. 29 years old! Holy Cow!
Then it was time for Valentine's Day! Riley was so excited! She'd already let the cat out of the bag [the moment Dan walked in the door] that she'd gotten candy for us and had made cards. Super sweet. But of course Grammy's presents for the kiddos were the sweetest. A Cardinals Logo fleece hat and mitten set. OH BOY!
And the hand-sewn piece de resistance- I HEART Grammy pajamas! I love them! In fact, before they were even finished I requested my own pair [it makes sense after all, as I reminded mom. I love my Grammy too!]
A pink fleece top to go with the pants.
And a heart on the front. I Heart Grammy- perfect for Valentine's!
And a hat for Garret too!
Such a handsome dude.
So much love to celebrate! Happy Day!

A Cool [Free] Way to Recycle Items You Normally Can't

Somehow I stumbled onto the TerraCycle website today; and frankly I've been obsessed ever since!

I signed up for a few of their "Brigades" which means that I can collect items you can't normally recycle, send the items to TerraCycle (at no cost to me), and they will upcycle them into items they sell.

Good for the Environment: Easy for Me.

And there's an extra perk. For most items sent in, they donate a few cents to the charity of your choice. I selected the Nature Conservancy which helps rebuild the Gulf Coast (but I can choose a local charity if anyone has info and a tax ID number) :)

I can't wait to start this. AND of course (if you live locally) I'd love your help. Below is a list of items I'll be collecting to send in. If you have any of these items and would like to rinse them out and bag them up for me, I'd be glad to collect them from you whenever I see you!

Items I'm Collecting:

Scotch Clear Tape Dispensers and/or Cores

Wine Corks (not plastic)

Kraft Cheese Packaging: Kraft Singles, Kraft String Cheese, Polly-O String Cheese, Philadelphia Cream Cheese (tubs), Kraft Natural Cheese, Cracker Barrel Cheese, Velveeta, Kraft Grated Parmesan, Athenos, Breakstone's, Knudsen Cheese, and all other delicious Kraft Cheese products.

Mission Brand Tortilla Plastic Bag/Packaging

*the items do have to be these specific brands, not any others or they won't be used.

So what you think, do you want to save a few more items from the landfills with me?!

the best parts

...about this week include:

• hanging with my best friend instead of just getting to hang with her cutie kids. another reason to love school vacation week even when you're not actually on vacation yourself.
• lighter volume of passengers (disgruntled and "normal") on the T
• band practice @ our house on monday night. there's nothing more wonderful than listening to live, acoustic music and knitting in the comfort of your own home especially when surrounded by friends.
• my niece jumping into my lap, just out of the bath, barely contained in her towel and yelling "I LOVE YOU, Auntie Jen!" {then fighting me when I attempted to brush and blow-dry her hair... damn that girl's a lot like her aunt:: what goes around comes around. gotta chuckle at that}
• dan's yummy pasta dinner on monday night. i can handle clean up when he cooks like that.
• the new ridiculously funny face garret's making right now- mouth out in a straight line, cheeks puffed out. so hard to describe. NO idea where he learned that.
• aila going absolutely nutty when i walked into her livingroom yesterday.
• a lighter, less stressful work schedule
• going to Zumba first thing Monday morning. awesome way to start the week
• finding out that I received a bunch of 3Day donations that I didn't know about! {thank you everyone}
• planning to start my second knitted hat & teaching 2 friends about knitting in the round
• nearly finishing my first full-sized afghan. SO. CLOSE.
• starting an afghan for Dan: all black (at his request) with yarn that I found on sale. loving it.

yep. so far- so good.

bring it on!

Adventures in Painting

Our bedroom has looked like this for over 2 years. Dan hung the canvases that match out quilt nicely and that was about the end of the decorating. I've been ok with that. Until recently.

Every morning I stand in front of this dresser that Dan's father made and get ready- hair, make-up, tweezing. It all happens here. (That small mirror has since broken and was replaced by a large metal framed mirror that's hanging, lined up with the right side of the furniture).

And it just needs something.

One day it hit me that a few small square canvases (mini versions of those over the bed) would be perfect, and go well with the color and decorating themes in the room).

The idea floated around in my head for months. I even bought 3 canvases and put a base layer on each before putting them in the spare room to marinate for a few more months. Finally, I put these little canvases back on my priority list and set a date with myself for Super Bowl Sunday. I hadn't planned to watch the game so it was as good a day as any. Then my friend Ryan volunteered to come down to my house and craft with me {aka babysit me so I didn't lounge the day away watching movies and accomplishing nothing}.

It took most of the day to find ideas, sketch things on the canvas and get these done. But I got there. And I'm really happy with how these came out!

The photos were done in bad lighting so take that for what its worth. I'm hoping to get these hung this week and promise to upload a picture of them in their new homes. For now, this will have to suffice.

Inspirations

my head is racing with ideas today.
but i'm stuck at work and can't act on any of them. so i'm jotting down a few things that just HAVE to be included in my creative room once we get some sheetrock and other essentials in there first.

which also begs the question:
"what the heck should i call this room?!"

i plan to do the following in this room:
Scrap. Paint. Sew. Knit. {Hopefully} Crochet. Make cards. Make fabric flowers and felted items. Relax and watch girly shows like Gilmore Girls and sip homemade hot chocolate. Edit photos. Hang out with my girl friends. Other crafty projects as I am so inclined.

but the name has to be short and catchy. something i'd actually refer to the room by.
sigh. another project for another day.

in the meantime, i started a list of criteria that simply must be a part of my crafty world (name TBD):

Easy v. Hard

an idea borrowed from one of my very favorite bloggers:

some thoughts about life lately

EASY: dancing around at Zumba class (laughing my butt off)
HARD: finding the time (& sometimes the motivation) to get there

EASY: dreaming about converting completely away from paper napkins
HARD: making enough of them to completely make the swap (18 + counting now)

EASY: to find the time and passion for knitting
HARD: to not knit myself into serious shoulder pain

EASY: dreaming of ideas of what my craft room will look like
HARD: to remove the snow from the door through which we will bring in the sheetrock to continue work

EASY: quick posts on Facebook and a glance at email or two
HARD: really connecting with friends I love dearly

EASY: browsing scrappy blogs and finding ideas
HARD: finding my own mojo

EASY: to think up so many great ideas
HARD: to keep track of all of them

EASY: saying i'm going to blog
HARD: actually sticking with it (its only feb folks. fingers crossed for sustainability this time around)

night kids.

today...

sharing a snippet from life today.

i am:

::rushing- all over work today. got a lot done and felt like a reasonably important cog which means it was a good day really.

::enjoying- the Valentines that Riley made for Dan and me. They made me smile from the inside out today.

::praying- that Marilyn is comfy and warm in her hospital bed tonight as she waits for her surgery tomorrow morning (delayed because of a busier than anticipated schedule today).

::loving- the moments that Kris and I always manage to find in our busy days (on the train/ chauffeuring kids to & fro, on lunch or coffee break/ whatever moment none of the 2-4 kids are screaming). a quick call. 2 minutes or maybe 12. happy, sad, frustrated, confused. always time well spent.

::grateful- for a quiet night at home with Dan. for cracking open a bottle of wine shipped home from Tuscany. for feeding my addiction (yes, nearly literal addiction) to Sons of Anarchy (now on Season 3 and quickly running out of episodes. don't ask what will happen then).

::eating- my new favorite black bean patty for dinner {with leftover risotto & asparagus- admittedly not a great combo but its all yummy stuff}

::remembering- all those grammar school Valentine's days. The file folder turned pink and red hearted pouch slung over the back of each of our chair-backs, ready to hold the seemingly endless tiny Valentine's cards (and maybe a couple packs of Smarties too)

::knitting- a lot. with a quasi-deadline looming i'm trying to crank out one of my latest projects as quickly as i can. still not sure it will be done when i'd like it too, but i'll do my best. sometimes a deadline is just the motivation i need.

::excited- to have finally booked a ticket to Florida this afternoon. its been too long (years) since i set foot in Clearwater and now it will only be about a month and a half until that won't be true anymore. looking forward to seeing Gram and the rest of the Florida snowbirds (and permanent residents), to the beach, the pool, the card games, re-painting the mural on Gram's garage, and the thousands of other activities that are a part of Gram's normal routine that she'll include me in.

::pleased- to have found it so easy to purchase carbon offsets for this trip on a plane (speaking of which, I am flying March too, I should go ahead and do it for that too). Planting trees is a great way to spend 5 minutes and less than $5 during a hectic, hard-to-focus day!

::surprised- that it was 53 degrees on my way home tonight at 5:30p when its been soo cold and ridiculously snowy this winter. what a nice relief. and similarly not surprised that it will be below freezing again by morning. i really do love New England.

::wishing you all a happy valentine's day!