Valentines

My Valentine's Day this year was spent in my apartment working on an assignment that is due later today. 9 hours straight staring at the computer screen (and listening/glancing at the Olympics coverage!) makes for a long day. Fortunately my awesome and crafty friend Heather had sent me a fantastic Valentine's Day card with some wise words of advice:



Besides that school is SO busy I don't have time for ANY crafting besides what I make out of paper, plastic, and PVC for my assignments!!



PS I am paying close attention to my fellow Parkites in the Olympics. GO JULIA MANCUSO, TED LIGETY, SPEEDY PETERSON, AND STEVE HOLCOMB. AND GREAT JOB NATE ROBERTS!!

Quick Mid-week Update

I was all ready for bed, but I've been having some scary dreams lately and just wasn't ready to turn things off around here. Then I realized I hadn't shared the pictures of my amazing St. Patrick's Day purse. It was made from the pattern available on the MadebyRae website. It is really the most amazing pattern, perfectly put together and so easy to make. I wish all patterns were like this!!! Thanks sooo much Rae for posting the free tutorial and pattern. I will definitely be making many more of these bags. Perhaps in clutch form as well...

Made out of that Echino fabric I love SO much!! (ps please forgive the icky pics and shots taken on the radiator)

I also made a skirt out of a pattern I came up with myself. Its silk, and let me tell you that I can't believe it turned out. It was my first experience with sewing silk, making a pattern, AND making buttonholes. Phew. I will take some pics soon so y'all can see it. Did I mention it was FERRAGAMO silk. woot.

Here are some pictures in closing. One from a recent trip to Joann's. I was being an enabler and tried to talk Heather into buying this fabric. Because she really needed to make a MUUMUU for the summer (I mean who doesn't)..............thank goodness she didn't buy it. But hysterical at the time.

And finally, the maid in my hotel in Lansing, MI had left this little towel creature in my bathroom. It was too adorable to use. Can you tell what it is?????

words of wisdom

Sometimes a few words of wisdom puts things into perspective, that and a cup of tension tamer:

"when I have a really messy place and it's stressing me out, I set my time for 15 or 20 minutes and just clean clean clean for that time and it's amazing how much you can accomplish in that little time plus it's like a mental vacation from whatever else you were doing. A little psycho sounding, I realize, but it works for me!"

-from my fab friend Heather. I can't stress enough what a great friend she is. Thanks buddy!!

Great Weekend!

I had a wonderful weekend. First I finished off Jen's quilt (well except the binding). This accomplishment kept me up late friday and took all day Saturday. BUT it was very worth it!! I think it ended turning out amazing. Well you can decide...

Then "the girls" came over that night for some wine and snacks. I had to clean my craft stuff up and that was a task! There was thread and small scraps of fabric everywhere. My friends still ended up with thread all over them. Sorry!! Heres a pic of my cleaned up living area:

This morning, Heather and Nate picked me up and we grabbed brunch with Ruthie and Ian. Then the girls headed to my new favorite fabric store, The Needle Shop. We picked up fabric and headed back to Heather's crib to craft. We wanted to get Ruthie back into sewing and she picked Amy Butler's Chelsea Bag as a starter project. Well it turned into about 6 hours of cutting, fusing, pulling, cursing, sewing, and lots of laughing. We almost got it finished for her, but she just needs to hand sew the two sides together. Again, the machine had a hard time with the thick interfacing. Guess I will have to start saving up for an industrial machine!! I bought some beautiful fabric to make a clutch, keep a look out for that this week!! Thanks girls for such a wonderful day sewing!! xoxo

Shoutout

I have to mention my fellow crafter and partner in crime in all things involving my right brain, Heather. She is a wonderful hostess who throws the most amazing parties that even Martha would praise. She is also up for any adventure (especially to Ikea!), and will generously take me with her (since I'm car-less) wherever she goes!! Thanks Heather!!


This is a pic of Heather, Dan, and myself. Heather and I made this beautiful shirt for him before he moved to California. The back said "the fastest gun this side of the Chicago River". We thought it was pretty clever and Dan humored us by wearing it the whole night (under his buttondown, but still!!)

xoxoxoxxo